Certain Challenges III
by LornaCat
Summary: Danielle, Dylan and Julie are home from college on break; Brorson & Kadam are still going strong, but the proposal of marriage only goes well for one couple, and the love triangle between the daughters starts to affect Kathree in unexpected ways...
1. Chapter 1

For Ida :) 3

* * *

In the third installment, Danielle, Dylan and Julie are visiting home, on break from college. Brorson and Kadam are still going strong, but the proposal of marriage only goes well for one of the couples. To make matters even worse - or better? - the complicated love triangle between their daughters eventually begins to affect Kathree...

_Some backstory: Dylan is a freshman at the same school where Julie is a sophomore. This is still AU like the first two Certain Challenges', but their story is similar to the show: they were childhood friends, but were separated when Katherine moved away. They became close again when Dylan moved back. Some changes to the canon: Wayne is in prison, and Dylan is the real Dylan._

Certain Challenges III

Julie & Dylan's story.

* * *

Adam walked into Katherine's study, finding her at her computer with a shocked expression on her face.

"Ohhhh dear." she said to herself, not yet realizing Adam was there. "Oh dear. Oh my goodness."

"What?" said Adam, laughing a little at Katherine's exaggerated reaction. "What's that, Facebook?"

"Yeah. Mmhm. Yes."

"What's the big deal? Whose pictures are you looking at?"

"Well, you see that girl there? The one with her tongue down the other girls throat?" Katherine pointed to one of the pictures.

Adam laughed again. "Yes, I do. It's kind of hard to miss."

"That's Danielle. Bree's daughter."

Adam almost choked on nothing. "Whoa." He started to notice other details in the pictures, like the fact that everyone was holding red plastic cups and were all falling over or laughing hysterically. "Looks like a pretty wild party."

"I guess so." Katherine murmured, wondering what Bree would think if she saw the pictures herself.

Adam started laughing again suddenly, as if he'd just realized something. Katherine turned her head slowly, giving him a look.

"What...is so funny?"

Adam stifled the laughter and cleared his throat.

"Well...isn't her son gay too?"

Katherine sighed. If it were anyone other than Bree she might have laughed along with him, but she knew how Bree would react and she felt awful just having seen the pictures first.

"What are the chances?" Adam continued, allowing himself another chuckle.

"Maybe she's just experimenting." said Katherine. She was already thinking of ways to break it to Bree gently.

"You'd know all about that." Adam teased her, elliciting another look from Katherine.

"That was different." Katherine insisted, pretending to be hurt by his comment. "And I wasn't drunk off my ass." she added, gesturing toward the computer screen.

"If I got you drunk, would you do it again?"

This time Katherine reached out to smack Adam's arm.

"Adam! What am I going to dooo? This will devastate her!"

"There's nothing wrong with what Danielle is doing!" Adam said, still laughing.

"You clearly do not understand the way Bree Van de Kamp's mind works."

"Okay," he continued. "She's still underage so she shouldn't be drinking, but is kissing another girl really that bad? On the grand scheme of things?"

"Of course not, I find it perfectly acceptable-"

Katherine stopped and pouted when she saw Adam smirking again.

"It's perfectly acceptable, to _me_." she said. "But Bree-"

"Needs to loosen up." Adam interrupted. "So until she does, don't say a word. All we have to go on is one or two pictures from an obviously crazy night, it could have been a dare for all we know. And if Danielle does turn out to be gay, then it will be her decision to tell her mother and anyone else she wants to."

"That's...very wise advice, Adam." Katherine told him begrudgingly.

"Thank you. Now are you going to follow it?"

"I don't know."

Adam chuckled again. "How did you find these anyway?" he asked.

"Dylan sent me the link to her profile, and I saw that she and Danielle were friends, so I clicked and it just kind of spiraled from there."

"Pandora's box, huh?"

Katherine pouted again and said "At least Dylan seems to be behaving."

Adam rubbed Katherine's back and kissed the top of her head.

"Am I going to meet her when she comes home to visit?" he asked, purposefully changing the subject so she would stop worrying. It worked like a charm. Katherine looked up at him and smiled, touching the hand that rested on her shoulder.

"Of course. I'm really excited about it, actually. Bree and I were thinking of having a big dinner with everyone, so we could introduce our girls to our guys."

"I'm there." said Adam. He leaned down again, and this time kissed Katherine on the lips. He'd meant for it to be just a quick peck but once he felt her soft lips he couldn't pull away so quickly. It also didn't help that she could seduce him with a wink and a smile. "Hmm." he said. "What will it mean for us when Dylan is staying in the next room?"

Katherine smirked. "I guess we'll just have to be quiet, won't we?"

"Something like that takes a lot of practice, you know. We should get started right away."

"Shh." Katherine said, standing and pulling Adam by the hand to another room in the house. "We're starting now."


	2. Chapter 2

It was just after midnight and the party to celebrate the end of mid-terms at Eagle State University was well underway. It was the last time many of them would see each other before a short break; most of them were going home for a week. Julie was designated driver for the night as always, drinking a Red Bull as she chatted with friends over the loud music.

"I think my skull is vibrating." said Shelley, Julie's roommate. She was only a little tipsy, but she was standing right next to the sound system.

"We should turn it down, I'm going deaf." said Julie.

"No, I like it!" Shelley giggled.

"Hey," said Derek, Shelley's boyfriend. "Don't you know that girl?"

Julie looked in the direction he was pointing. "Yeah! That's Dylan, my friend from back home. I didn't know she was here."

"That's what I thought. I was just pointing her out because it looks like Tyler is about to take her to one of the bedrooms. You know how he is with freshman girls."

"Oh my god, you're right. I'll be right back."

Julie pushed her way through Derek's crowded living room. Dylan and Tyler had already disappeared by the time she reached the other side, which only made Julie's search more urgent. She hadn't spoken to Dylan in a while, but she was still pretty sure that Dylan was the kind of girl that would have to be drunk and not aware of what she was doing if she was following Tyler back there.

Julie passed two dark, empty bedrooms. There was a light on in the third bedroom, the door only slightly ajar. She poked the door with one finger so she could see inside. From her position in the hallway she could see Dylan on the bed, flat on her back with the bottom half of her legs hanging off the side. Her head was turned to the side, like she was passed out. Tyler set their drinks on the bedside table, the button on his pants already undone. He sat down on the bed next to Dylan, putting a hand on her stomach and rubbing her to see if she'd wake up.

"Hey..." Tyler whispered, clearly not trying very hard to wake her. His hands started to move to the button on Dylan's jeans.

"Hey." Julie said sharply, stepping into the doorway.

"Oh, shit." Tyler muttered, holding his pants closed as he got up and left the room.

"You're disgusting." Julie told him as he passed her. She walked quickly over to the bed to see if Dylan was alright. Her eyes were closed, but she was still moving.

"Dylan? Are you awake?" Julie took her hand, shaking it very gently.

Dylan moaned. "Hunhh?"

"Come on, sit up." Julie told her. "You have to drink some water."

"Nooo..." Dylan whined. "I drank too much already."

"I know, that's why you need water." Julie said patiently. Dylan could barely sit up by herself, and she leaned on Julie for support.

"I just want to go to sleep." said Dylan. Her eyes opened slowly, and she started to look frightened. "Oh god...I'm going to be sick..."

Julie's stomach turned when she heard Dylan heave. She grabbed the small waste bin by the side of the bed and put it in front of Dylan. Dylan fell to her knees on the floor and hung her head over it. She moaned again, nothing coming up yet. Julie took the opportunity to gather Dylan's hair behind her head.

Derek and Shelley appeared in the doorway.

"Is she okay?" Derek asked. Shelley looked on sympathetically.

"It's okay, she's just-" Julie stopped, interrupted by a horrible wretching sound. Most of Dylan's last two drinks were suddenly in the trash.

"Oh, the poor thing!" said Shelley.

"I'll get a cup with some water." said Derek, pulling Shelley away from the door with him.

Julie made sure there was no hair in Dylan's face. Dylan wretched again, and after another disgusting deposit, she seemed to be done. She leaned back, pushing the trash can away from her. She was a little less out of it now that she'd purged the poison.

"Julie..." she said, her voice shaky. "Please don't tell my mom."

She started to cry, curling up in an upright fetal position.

"I won't." Julie reassured her, rubbing her back gently.

"I promise I'll never do it again!" Dylan sobbed.

"Ohh." Julie said, making a sad sound. She reached out to hug Dylan, and Dylan uncurled her legs to let her.

Derek brought in a glass of water, setting it on the bedside table and leaving without saying a word.

"I'm so stupid." said Dylan after a while, sniffling.

"No you're not. You just went past your limit."

"I don't even know that guy."

"Are you here with friends?"

"No. I..." Dylan looked down at her hands. "I don't really have any yet. I mean, except for you. But we don't really hang out..."

It had been a lonely senior year at high school without Julie, and she'd found it hard to make new friends so late in the game. She thought a fresh start at college would be a different experience, but for some reason she'd grown even more shy and closed off. She didn't share any classes with Julie, and now that Julie had gained sophomore status she didn't live in the same dorms either. They barely saw each other anymore.

"I mean, it's not your responsibility to hang out with me, I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything." Dylan backpedaled.

Julie felt horrible. She'd always thought that Dylan was the outgoing one when they were little, but it seemed like their roles had switched.

"I'm so tired." said Dylan, rubbing her eyes. "And my mouth tastes like shit."

Julie handed Dylan the glass of water, telling her to drink it slowly.

"Why don't you come home with me and Shelley? You can spend the night in our room."

Dylan gave a half smile. "Really? Shelley won't mind?"

"Of course not! I have an extra toothbrush too."

Dylan felt so relieved to have help and company, knowing that if she'd gone back to her dorm room alone she would have cried herself to sleep again. She didn't even have a roommate to hide from, as she'd been randomly assigned to a single room.

Julie stood up, helping Dylan to her feet.

"Thank you _so _much Julie. I swear I'll make this up to you."  
"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're okay." Julie smoothed Dylan's hair behind her ear, making Dylan smile sheepishly. For some reason she felt embarassed by the intimate gesture.

"I look horrible, don't I?"

"You look fine. You can't even tell..." Julie trailed off, looking at the garbage can. "I should probably throw that out."

"No Julie, I can do it." Dylan leaned down to take the plastic bag out of the can and almost fell over.

"Whoa." She said, grabbing Julie's outstretched hand to steady herself.

"I'll do it." Julie said, guiding her to sit back down on the bed. "Just drink the rest of the water - _slowly _- and get cleaned up. I'll let Shelley know we're leaving."

Dylan nodded, knowing in her heart why she hadn't made any real friends yet. None of them would ever measure up to Julie.


	3. Chapter 3

"You can borrow a t-shirt to sleep in." Julie offered. "Just grab anything from that drawer on the bottom."

"Thanks." Dylan mumbled. She was exhausted, but at the same time strangely excited about the sleepover. It wasn't as if they were going to stay up and do each other's hair, but it made it feel like old times.

"And here's a toothbrush." Julie handed her the item, still in the packaging. "It was free from the dentist so don't feel bad taking it. The bathroom is right around the corner, let me know if you need anything else."

"How 'bout a time machine so I can go back and un-embarrass myself?"

"Sorry, I sold mine so I could afford my books this semester."

Dylan giggled, then stopped, feeling a little queasy. She took a deep breath, and the feeling passed. "I'll be right back." She walked toward the door, which had a body length mirror hanging on it. In the reflection she could see Julie behind her, taking off her shirt to change into her pajamas. Usually Dylan would have looked away but her eyes were glued to the image. Julie was wearing a baby pink bra that gave her cleavage a major boost. Dylan wondered to herself, _When did Julie become so...womanly?_ She opened the door slowly, stealing one last glance as Julie, unaware that she was being watched, turned her back to Dylan and the mirror and began to unclasp the bra. Dylan watched the pale, smooth skin on her back disappear underneath a white tank top, averting her gaze before Julie spun back around.

"Everything okay?" Julie asked, seeing that Dylan hadn't left yet.

"Yeah." said Dylan, trying to snap out of it. "I just got a little dizzy for a second. And I didn't want to..." she trailed off. _I didn't want to open the door while you had your shirt off. _was what she was going to say, but then Julie would know she'd been watching.

"You'll feel better once you lay down." Julie said, smiling reassuringly.

_Only if it's next to you._ Dylan's inner monologue continued, shocking Dylan's outer self. _Yikes, where the hell did that come from?_

Dylan left the room and let out another deep breath. She'd been trying to ignore it for a long time, but she'd been noticing girls more and more lately. Julie was not the first one she'd ogled, but she was the first one Dylan knew personally. She tried to think of anything other than what she'd seen in the mirror, but the thoughts consumed her. In the daydream version, Julie remained naked from the waist up, turning before putting on her tank top.

_No! _Dylan shout-thought at herself. _Julie is your friend, not some stupid crush._

Dylan found the bathroom and locked herself inside. She tied her hair in a ponytail so she could wash her face, and then eagerly brushed her teeth to rid the foul taste of vomit from her mouth. She wanted to be minty fresh in case she got close to Julie...

_Stupid. That's stupid._ Dylan stared at herself angrily in the bathroom mirror. _You're still drunk, you idiot. Ugh, why did I drink so much?_

Dylan's eyes drifted, becoming unfocused. She replayed Julie's clothing change in her mind again. "God, she's hot." Dylan whispered, not even knowing she was speaking aloud. In privacy, she took off her own shirt, hoping that the wetness she felt on it was water or at the very least beer, not puke. Another wave of embarassment shot through her. Julie had to hold her hair while she puked, how charming. She put on the shirt she'd borrowed, along with a pair of Julie's pajama bottoms.

Dylan entered Julie's room again. Shelley had gotten into her bed, and was already fast asleep and snoring loudly.

"Julie?" Dylan whispered. The lights were off, and since her eyes were still adjusting she couldn't tell where Julie was in the room.

"I'm in my bed." Julie whispered back. "You can turn the light back on if you need it."

"That's okay." said Dylan, fumbling around for her purse. She put the toothbrush inside and put her things on Julie's desk chair. "Um...where am I going to sleep?" She hadn't seen a couch, futon or even a bean bag lying around.

"Oh, with me!" said Julie. Dylan heard a blanket rustle, and she began to make out Julie's silhouette in the moonlight. She was lying in her bed, the covers thrown aside so that Dylan could crawl in beside her.

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah!" said Dylan, hoping she didn't sound too excited. She laid down on the bed and decided that the best position would be on her back for now.

"Just like the good old days." Julie said jokingly.

Dylan turned her head to smile at her.

No one would see it in the dark, but Dylan blushed as she remembered how she'd noticed Julie's cleavage. The tank top she wore to sleep was slightly too small, and now that she was laying down it was even more extreme. To keep from looking at it, Dylan turned over to face the rest of the room. She realized her mistake when she felt Julie scoot closer and put an arm over her waist.

"Remember when we used to play 'teddy bears'?" Julie whispered, referring to a childhood game they used to play. It consisted of doing exactly what Julie was doing now, except it had never made Dylan so delightfully uncomfortable. Julie's extreme curves had definitely changed things and Dylan prayed that Julie wouldn't feel how fast her heart was beating.

_Just friends just friends just friends just friends..._

Shelley made a sound like a suffocating pig, and both Julie and Dylan burst into giggles. Dylan's eyes went wide when she felt Julie jiggling against her, she felt horribly dirty for even noticing. This night was going to be the most wonderful torture.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hello, Bree." Katherine called out as she entered Bree's home. She'd opened the door without knocking, knowing that Bree would be in the kitchen waiting for her.

Bree noticed immediately that Katherine was acting extra perky. Unfortunately for Katherine, her extra perkiness only caused larger blips on Bree's bullshit radar. First of all, Katherine always said 'Hey, sweetie' before a business meeting. 'Hello, Bree' was the greeting she used in front of clients and other acquaintances. A trivial distinction to a stranger, and a subconscious choice on Katherine's part, but Bree's attention was always on the details.

Katherine walked into the kitchen and found Bree standing at the counter.

"Hello, Bree." Katherine repeated, sidling up next to Bree and placing her large, bound scrapbook gingerly on the counter. "Any luck with the printers?"

"I haven't called them yet. How are things in Katherine World?" Bree asked, smiling and tilting her head to the side.

"Just super, thanks for asking." Katherine replied, matching her tone and tilting her head in the opposite direction. Being sarcastically perky to each other was their new thing.

"How is Adam?" Bree asked, genuinely this time.

"He's good..." said Katherine. Katherine could tell Bree was fishing for information now, and Bree could tell that Katherine could tell. It wasn't like Katherine to keep things from her; she was usually the brutally honest one that had to pull problems out of Bree like Orson pulled teeth from his patients.

"So, I haven't called the printer, but I did get the sample invitations back from Andrew." Bree pulled out a small card and slid it on the counter top so Katherine could take a look. "Do you have any suggestions? Anything...on your mind?"

Katherine didn't look up with the usual smirk she gave whenever Bree was teasing her about something. Bree knew for sure now that something was wrong, but Bree also knew that Katherine would tell Bree what was on her mind when she needed too, so Bree let the unmentioned, non-existent matter drop for the moment.

_How does one broach a subject like this?_ Katherine wondered as Bree went on and on about Andrew's graphic design skills. She could use hints to let Bree come to her own conclusion:

_Bree, has Danielle mentioned any new...'friends' lately?_

Or she could put it a snarky way, something Bree might actually expect from her:

_Bree...are there any seats free at your AA meetings? You know someone who's going to need one._

Then again, she could always go with the direct approach.

_Bree: your daughter is a slut._

Bree finished explaining the concept behind Andrew's invitation design and was about to enter the next phase of her pitch, but she noticed Katherine's vacant stare and found it hard to continue. Katherine's eyes were narrowed, her lips curled into a sort of dismayed grimace.

"If you don't like the design, just say it." Bree said, getting testy. "You can stop making your 'I'm going to vomit' face."

Katherine snapped out of it, turning to Bree with wide eyes.

"What?" she peeped. "Sorry."

"Is there anything you need to tell me?" asked Bree, giving her one more chance to spill the beans.

_If you don't tell her now she'll just find out later on her own._ thought Katherine. _Better to have a best friend soften the blow. If it were Dylan I would want to know. Wait...no I wouldn't..._

Katherine watched Bree's eyebrows rise steadily higher as she waited for an answer.

"I'm making the face again, aren't I?" asked Katherine.

Bree nodded.

"The invitations are great." Katherine assured her. "But there _is _something I want to talk to you about..."

Even as she said this, Katherine saw Bree's eyes shift and her face went all dreamy. Orson had walked in, just finishing up tying his tie.

"Hello, ladies." he greeted them.

"Hi, Orson." Katherine replied wryly, knowing she'd lost Bree's attention until he was gone.

"Oh, what's this?" said Orson, putting his arms around Bree's waist from behind. He went for the ticklish spot on Bree's neck, the part that made her giggle whenever he kissed it. Bree did indeed giggle when he found it, scrunching up her shoulder in a half hearted attempt at escaping.

"That's fine," Katherine sighed. "Just act like I'm not even here."

"Oh, I'm sorry Katherine." Orson said. He started to put his arms around Katherine's waist as he had done to Bree, leaning down to put his face in her neck.

"Orson!" Katherine cried, swatting him away. "Not in front of Bree."

"Hey!" said Bree, jokingly shocked.

"I have to go." said Orson, turning his attention back to Bree completely. He kissed her goodbye, a warm, eyes-closed kiss that ended with smiles on both sides. "I'll see you tonight."

Orson and Katherine waved goodbye to each other before he left.

"You two make me sick." said Katherine.

"Gee, thanks."

"In the good way!" Katherine added.

Bree sighed happily. "Katherine..."

"Yes?"

"I think I want to marry that man."

Katherine smirked, though she smirked in the most endearing way possible. She knew the look in Bree's eye, recognizing the particular glow a woman got when she thought of one thing in particular.

"Bree..."

"Yes?"

"You know there's more to marriage than mind-blowing, earth-shattering, multiple-orgasm-inducing sex, right?"

Bree's eyes lost the dream, narrowing at Katherine in a sideways glance. "Does there have to be?"

Katherine pretended to be shocked. "Maybe you _should _marry him! Any man that can turn my Bree into a daydreaming sex fiend has to be doing something right."

Bree sighed again and turned her attention back to her friend.

"Now what did you want to tell me?"

Katherine smiled. No reason to ruin a wonderful afternoon.

"You know what? I don't remember." Katherine lied. Saying it suddenly made her remember something else, and she looked down at her watch. "Oh! I'm going to be late picking Dylan up!"

Frantically, she started to gather up her binder, then changed her mind. "I'm just going to leave this here, okay? Let's talk menus tomorrow!"

She gave Bree a quick kiss on the cheek and trotted out of the kitchen.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dylan!"

Katherine waved her hands in the air when she saw Dylan finally enter the airport waiting area.

"Mom!" Dylan laughed and jogged over to her mother, who put her arms around her and squeezed.

"Oh sweetie, I missed you."

"I missed you too, Mom."

"Let me see you." said Katherine, holding Dylan at arm's length.

"Mom, it's only been two months." Dylan rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.  
"I knooow," said Katherine. "Do you feel more grown up?"

"I feel _tired_." Dylan said, taking Katherine by the arm and pulling her toward the exit. "I wanna go home!"

"Do you need help with your bags? I can carry that for you."

"That's okay," Dylan said. "So...where's Adam?"

Dylan noticed the grin that took over Katherine's face when she mentioned his name.

"I don't know." said Katherine with a shrug. "At his apartment, probably."

"Aw, Mom...you're glowing."

Katherine put a hand to her face, as if Dylan had meant it literally.

"Really?"

Dylan nodded. She loved seeing her mother's girly side come out.

"Oh...shucks!" said Katherine, and they both laughed.

"I can't wait to meet him."

"Tonight!" was all Katherine could say in response. She and Dylan laughed again, and hooked arms as they walked together.

* * *

Bree was in the airport later that day, but the scene played out a bit differently for her. When she spotted Danielle enter the waiting area, Bree stood up and waiting patiently for Danielle to catch sight of her. Danielle walked slowly, as slow as she could without moving backwards, toward her mother.

"Hello." Bree greeted her politely, and asked her if she had checked much luggage.

"A ton." Danielle replied. "We're gonna need one of those bellhop guys with the rolling cart thingy."

"Really? You're only going to be home for two weeks, did you really need to bring that much?"

Danielle shot her an ice cold look. She'd spent an entire day agonizing over what clothes to bring and what to leave in her dorm room closet. Leave it to Mom to find something to criticize the moment I step off the plane, she thought.

They walked silently together down the large hall. Danielle pulled out her cell phone, tapping away at the keys as if Bree weren't there at all.

"I can't wait for you to meet Orson." said Bree, trying to engage Danielle. "I think you'll really like him."

"Mmhmmm." Danielle murmured. _God, his name is stupid._

"We're going to have dinner with Katherine and Dylan, and Katherine's friend Adam."

"Her _friend_?" Danielle asked mockingly. "Or her man-lover?"

Bree sighed. "Her man-lover." she answered matter-of-factly, turning Danielle's rude joke against her. Bree noticed the strange look that passed over Danielle's face, disgust mixed with mild surprise that her mother had actually played along.

Danielle closed her flip phone loudly. "So," she said, determined to have the last word. "On a scale of Peter to George, how much of a psycho is Orson?"

Bree's smirk disappeared. "Danielle, please don't -"

"Okay," Danielle interrupted. "I'm going to put these headphones on." She announced, holding up her mp3 player and a pair of earbuds. "Just tap me on the shoulder when dinner's ready." Danielle flashed a quick, fake smile before letting her face fall back to its natural snotty state. She picked up her pace, leaving Bree behind.

* * *

Back at home, Dylan threw her bag on her bed and let herself fall onto her back. The bed bounced slightly in response to her weight, and she let it settle before looking around. Everything was as she had left it. This bedroom was relatively new to her, but she'd moved around so much growing up that it didn't matter so much where the bed was, as long as it was in a house with her mother, the one constant in her life.

She had a good relationship with Katherine. She had always been able to tell her everything, never thinking there would be a time where that would change, but something had happened at school that she wasn't sure she could share.

Dylan got up from her bed, walking to the window to look at the street below. She knew she had to tell someone, and it wouldn't be any of her friends from school - because then they'd all know that she'd fallen in love with her best friend Julie Mayer.


	6. Chapter 6

They were all meeting up at Bree's house - Katherine and Dylan arrived first, finding the table set and the food already on the stove. When Orson finally arrived, he could barely keep his hands off of Bree for more than a minute at a time. After greeting Katherine and Dylan, he headed straight to the kitchen to see if Bree needed any help. The Mayfair ladies shared a knowing look the fourth time he tried to move his hand lower than the small of Bree's back. Each time, Bree would stop him, smiling sweetly, and give him a subtle-yet-suggestive look - _Later, dear_.

"Are they always like that?" Dylan asked Katherine.

"Pretty much." said Katherine, sounding as if she'd witnessed more than she'd needed to.

Dylan smiled. "It's kinda cute."

* * *

Adam was late, but Katherine was so excited to make introductions that she couldn't hold it against him.

"Your mother has told me a lot about you." said Adam after meeting Dylan. "I feel like we're already old friends."

"She's told me a lot about you too." Dylan told him. "We should quiz each other."

"What's my favorite food?" Adam said, not really expecting an answer.

"Fried chicken." Dylan replied immediately. "What's my worst fear?"

"Whales." said Adam, just as quick.

Dylan laughed. "Wow, you weren't kidding."

"What can I say?" said Katherine. "You guys are my two favorite subjects."

* * *

Orson and Bree were still in the kitchen, and they could hear the conversation in the next room.

"When is Danielle going to be home?" Orson asked after he realized he hadn't seen her yet.

Bree continued to baste the large turkey that had been cooking all afternoon. Her movements were quick, almost violent.

"She _is _home, Orson. She's in her room."

Bree's voice had an edge to it, and there was nothing slight about it. Orson had never seen her this agitated, at least not since the night of Mrs. Kipling's fund raiser months ago. He found it fascinating how different Bree and Katherine were with their daughters. Katherine and Dylan were just full of warmth and smiles when they were together, but all Orson could feel from Bree and Danielle's relationship was the cold distance between them and he hadn't even met the latter half yet.

Bree wiped her hands on her apron and let out a sharp sigh. "I should call her down."

Bree turned to Orson and tried to turn her frown upside down. They were both nervous about Orson and Danielle meeting for the first time, and this attitude sure wasn't going to put Orson at ease.

"I'm so glad you're here." said Bree. She didn't just mean his presence that night; his presence in her life meant more to her than he could imagine.

"I'm glad I'm here too." he replied, and tried to reassure her. "It's going to be a great night."  
"I hope so."

* * *

Before the turkey was done, Bree served hors-d'ouvres in the living room while the party chatted.

"Dylan, your mom said you're studying social work?" asked Adam.

Dylan nodded and swallowed her food before speaking.

"Yeah! I really want to work with children, and teaching never really appealled to me..."

Katherine watched with pride as Dylan spoke passionately about her career plans.

Orson glanced at Danielle, who hadn't put her phone down once since trudging downstairs to sit with them. She'd only done so at Bree's insistence, and she'd made it clear that she had much better things to do. Orson tried to think of some way to engage Danielle. Here they were talking about Dylan's school, Dylan's classes, Dylan's plans. Even Dylan seemed to be getting tired of talking about herself.

"So..." Orson said to Danielle, turning and trying to get her attention. "You seem to like that phone a lot. What service do you have?"

Danielle shrugged. "I dunno. Sprint?" She guessed, saying the first one that came to mind. "I don't pay for it, so I don't care." She said all of this with her head still down, never looking away from her phone.

"I have a friend who works for a company in Japan that manufactures cellular phones. According to him, they are always on the cutting edge. I can probably get you a prototype of the latest trend..."

Danielle glanced at Orson, her face softening at this interesting prospect. Maybe Mom's latest psycho wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

During dinner, Danielle seemed once again to be left in the cold conversationally. Sure, she hadn't made eye contact with anyone since they'd arrived, but was that really her fault when they were all so mind-numbingly boring?

There was a break in conversation, and Orson turned to her.

"What are you majoring in, Danielle?" he asked.

Danielle hesitated, but then smiled her fake smile at Orson.

"I'm still undecided." she said, her smile disappearing soon after. Danielle could feel everyone in the room trying very hard not to judge her, but their furious attempts at making it seem like they weren't judging only heightened the effect.

"Nothing wrong with taking a little time to find what's right for you." Orson said, breaking the awkward silence. "Most students change their majors two or even three times before graduating."  
"Really?" Danielle replied with major exaggeration. "Why don't you tell that to my Mom, since she seems to think that 'undecided' is just code for Shaming-The-Family Studies."

"Danielle, I do not think that." Bree insisted. "If I did I would have chosen a major for you, which I still didn't do even after you wasted your entire senior year auditioning for modeling agencies."

Katherine forced a small laugh. "Bree-ee..." she sang through clenched teeth. "Drop iiit..."

It was too late; Bree and Danielle had already begun their face off.

"I got _three _callbacks, Mother. Remember? One guy even offered to fly me to New York City."

"To take care of his children while he cheated on his wife." Bree added, not wanting to leave out any important details.

"A wife that was probably as withered an old hag as you are." Danielle shot back. "You're just jealous of my youth and beauty, admit it!"

Katherine made eye contact with both Orson and Adam, giving them each an apologetic smile. She'd tried to warn them about this mother/daughter relationship, but they'd laughed it off.

"I'm not jealous of your youth and beauty, dear." Bree said, her words wrapped in condescension. "Merely perplexed by your naivete. How a girl so intent on remaining stupid could be accepted to an Ivy League school is a concept that will always remain beyond my reach."

"Ugh, you and your fancy words! I know it was just Dad's money that got me in, you don't have to rub it in my face!"

Danielle threw down her fork, nearly causing it to knock over her water glass, and then left the dining room in a huff. The rest of the party avoided looking at each other, finding something on their plate to concentrate on instead. After a few more awkward seconds, Katherine exhaled and put on a bright smile.

"Dessert, anyone?"


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: changed the rating to M for this chapter...teehee. It's totally motivated by the story, I swear! 0:)

* * *

Later that evening, after Adam, Katherine and Dylan departed with an awkward goodbye, Orson was helping Bree clean up the kitchen. Danielle had locked herself in her bedroom, and the muffled sounds of the techno music she was blasting from her stereo could be heard all the way downstairs.

"You okay?" Orson asked Bree as she finished wiping off the counter.

"I suppose." she sighed, putting her small towel down. "I'm still trying to figure out whether it was better or worse than my last dinner party with Danielle's father. Now that was awkward."

Bree sat down on one of her kitchen stools, shoulders sagging.

"Maybe I'm a fool for being so optimistic, but I really thought Danielle would be more mature when she came back."

"It's only been a few months." said Orson. "She'll find her way."  
Bree looked at Orson with a mixture of sadness and pity. "Orson...you really don't know Danielle. But thanks for saying it. I'm just disappointed that dinner had to end on a sour note. I should just accept that this house is cursed for parties and let Katherine host from now on."

"I think," said Orson, taking each of Bree's hands in his own to pull her up. "That you need some cheering up."

Orson began to walk backwards, pulling Bree along with him.

"Orson..." Bree said slowly, trying to think of an excuse. If he had in mind what she thought he had in mind, she might have to disappoint him. "I'm tired..."

"Let me take your mind off of everything. I'll make the world disappear, I promise."

He almost had her convinced. There was just one small detail holding her back.

"But...Danielle?" she said, eyes darting upward.

"With her music that loud she wouldn't be able to hear 4th of July fireworks if they were going off right next to her. How is she going to hear ours?"

A tiny smile crept onto Bree's face, and Orson knew she was hooked.

Orson closed the door to Bree's bedroom. She walked toward her bed and looked over her shoulder at him. She always got shy right beforehand.

"Can you get the zipper?" she asked quietly, even though the music was making the walls vibrate. She pointed to her neck where the zipper to her dress began. Orson was happy to oblige, and even happier to find no bra underneath her garment. Bree covered herself as the dress fell to the floor at her feet. The lilac in the fabric matched her underwear, signaling to Orson that perhaps Bree had been expecting an encounter like this after all. She turned around and stuck close by him, hands reaching for the buttons on his beautifully pressed shirt.

"Hold on." he said, guiding her hands back to her sides. She looked up at him with big eyes, exposed but trusting. He walked her backwards and laid her down on the bed, making sure she had a fluffy pillow beneath her head.

"Get comfortable." he told her before he started to lavish her body in long, slow kisses. Her neck got the full treatment, before he moved lower, and lower...

When he began to concentrate on the skin just past her belly button Bree tensed, knowing exactly where he was headed. Over the years, bad performances had her convinced that she didn't like it, but he seemed so happily intent on going there and she was too bashful to say stop.

Bree bit her lip, lifting her hips off the bed so Orson could pull the lilac lace down her long legs. He did it slowly, to make her feel safe, and to make her feel sexy. She was trying to feel sexy, but all she wondered at the moment was how long he was going to insist on going down on her before he was ready for the main event.

Orson didn't want to mention it, but he could sense Bree's hesitation. He'd encountered this trepidation before. He was confident he could change her mind however, because he knew he was good at it. This _was _the main event.

He started from the bottom this time, kissing her ankle, then her calf, then just above her knee, all the while placing her legs further apart. When he reached this halfway point she leaned back and closed her eyes. She didn't mean to, but she flinched the first time he tasted her. Bree experienced only small amount of discomfort as she got used to the sensation, and as she warmed up, she quickly realized exactly how lazy a lover Rex had been. His lame attempts at pleasuring her this way had turned her off to the idea completely, thereby letting him off the hook, and George's go at it had just been pathetic, a lead-in to the worst sex she'd ever had. With every move he made, Orson was slowly erasing those moments from her memory. The way he used his entire mouth, like a french kiss..._Where did he learn how to do that???_

"Oh god oh god oh god..." Bree whimpered softly. Unsure of where to put her hands, she let them hover over his mane of dark hair before letting them fall to her sides. She grabbed fistsful of the sheets on her bed, trying unsuccessfully to channel the intense feeling elsewhere in her body. She thought she'd be too embarrased to look, but she let her eyes flutter open for just a peek. The sight of his head between her thighs, making love to her this way, made it hard for her to control herself. She had to put a lot of effort into stifling the sounds her body wanted to make. The music in the next room was loud enough to rattle the picture frames on the adjoining wall, but that didn't make it any more acceptable to let it out.

Bree's nerve endings started to sing; it hadn't even been two minutes. She pressed her head back into her pillow, a moaning sigh forcing itself through lips that stayed pressed tightly together. And just when Bree thought that the feeling couldn't get any more intense, Orson pressed his face even closer into her. There was no controlling the loud cry that came out of her mouth then, and there was also no covering it up since the CD on the stereo in the next room had just ended. Long seconds of excruciating silence passed as Bree rode out the rest of her long, intense orgasm.

"_Oh. My. God!_" Danielle yelled from the next room, clearly repulsed by what she'd just overheard.

Orson didn't stop until Bree did. Then he was laughing, pulling his body up to lay on top of Bree. She was embarassed, and panting, but she couldn't help but smile. She uncurled the fists that were clutching the sheets and put her hands behind Orson's head. She loved the feeling of his weight on her, keeping her from floating away.

Another song started in Danielle's room, the pounding bass cranked up even louder than before. Bree tilted her head back, looking up at the reverberating head board.

"Feel better?" Orson asked, as if he'd been giving her a simple back massage. In answer, Bree pulled Orson's head down to her mouth, licking his earlobe and biting it ever so lightly. She was mustering up all the courage she had so she could explain exactly how much better he'd made her feel. Her body was still buzzing, and still she craved more.

Bree let Orson's earlobe slip out from between her lips and held his head in place.

"I didn't know it could be like that." she said. She felt Orson try to pull his head away, but she wasn't ready to be looked at yet. He obeyed, and kissed her neck softly.

"I want..." she whispered, not sure she could say it out loud.

"Tell me." he said. The depth of his voice made Bree shiver, and the way he kept kissing her was keeping her high. "Tell me..."

"I want you inside of me." Bree's heart skipped a beat when she realized she'd actually said it. She heard a deep groan as Orson pressed himself closer, burying his face in her neck. She felt his hand on her leg. He pressed hardest with his thumb as he ran it up her inner thigh.

"Say it again." he commanded, reversing the direction of his hand. He slipped it behind her knee and pushed her leg gently outward, raising himself up to look her directly in the eye. Bree found herself almost speechless, wondering what had happened to the good little girl she was supposed to be. She was completely exposed, he still fully dressed. He could have done anything he wanted to her then, and she was going to let him.

_"Any man that can turn my Bree into a daydreaming sex fiend..."_

"I want you inside of me." she repeated, her turn to obey.

_Katherine was right - I'm a fiend._

Orson worked on removing his belt, allowing Bree to unbutton only half of his shirt before he pinned her down again. Her hands could still reach his waist, so she pushed his pants down just far enough to free that part of him she needed so badly. She didn't dare do anything more, because he'd proven time and again that the best things happened when he was in control.

Orson also craved more. Half-clothed, he was kissing her throat and chest like he wanted to devour her completely.

"Tell me more." he said, pressing against her without entering her. "Tell me what else you want."

"I want..." Bree panted.

_Oh god...how do I...? _

"I want you...to make me..."

"Uh huh...?"

"...come again."

Orson kissed Bree's mouth as if he could taste the words themselves. His hand was on her thigh again, behind her knee again, pushing her leg up so it would rest over his shoulder.

"Like this?"

* * *

"_Yes, yes, yes, YES, YES!_"

Katherine shouted at the top of her lungs as she rocked her hips against Adam's. He held on to her tightly, grunting as he controlled their movements. He was sitting, leaning against the backboard of Katherine's bed and she was on her knees straddling him, hands clutching the backboard on either side of his head. The next time she crashed against him he held her hips in place. For one thing, he needed a break from the friction if he was going to outlast her, but it seemed to drive her mad with pleasure each time he did it so it was a win-win sort of maneuver. She fought his strong arms until he began to release his grip. She was moaning and moaning, and Adam had to bite his tongue hard to distract himself. She was doing the work now, and he moved his hands up her back, putting one behind her neck to pull her face to his. They kissed like hungry animals until Katherine started to writhe on top of him. She moaned and panted into his mouth, whining through her orgasm.

She collapsed on top of him, arms around his neck, when she was done. He was still moving underneath her, pulling her hips forward and back on top of him, and she lifted her head so she could watch his face while he entered the final stretch. His jaw was clenched tight, eyes cast downward to look at the place where their bodies were joined. He looked so serious.

"God, you're so f*cking hot." Katherine breathed, causing his hips to jump even higher. She yelped and giggled, feeling like she'd fly off the bed if she said anything dirtier. Adam grunted and held Katherine in place again.

"Ohh, yes..." Katherine moaned, grinding against him until he was finished. His head fell back, eyes closed, as he gulped for air.

Katherine smiled, bending down to bite Adam's neck playfully. She slowly lifted herself up and off of his lap, stretching her body out like a cat beside him.

"Jesus, Katherine." Adam said, still trying to catch his breath. "So much for being quiet, huh?"

"Mmm." Katherine purred. "I knew exactly how it was going down when Dylan told me she was going to spend the night at Julie's. Will you spend the night?"

"I have to. I can't walk after that."

Katherine giggled again. "Do you want a snack?"

"It's midnight."

"And I'm hungry!"

Adam gazed at Katherine, his insatiable sex kitten.

"You own me." he said. "You know that, right?"

Katherine bit her lip and grinned. "I like that." she said, getting up out of the bed and walking stark naked to her bedroom door where her pink kimono hung.

"I thought you might." said Adam. He watched her cover herself and felt his eyes getting droopy. By the time she got back with a plate full of leftover turkey, he was already asleep. Katherine crawled into bed next to him and kissed his forehead.

"You own me too, Adam."


	8. Chapter 8

_The next morning..._

Bree awoke on Saturday morning to find a note in place of her boyfriend. Panic seized her for just a moment - after the things they did last night, had he run off? - but it was only reflex. She relaxed when she saw what was written there, a simple _I love you._ Bree held the note in her hand as she laid on her side, and gazed at it.

"Well put." she said, and smiled.

Peeking in Danielle's room on her way downstairs, she saw her bed empty as well. They had yet to see each other after their dinner spat, and Bree wondered how much worse her and Orson's bedroom behavior had made it. Bree found her in the kitchen, eating a large bowl of cereal. Danielle froze when Bree entered, and stared at her with murder in her eyes. She slowly began to eat the cereal again, but found that she'd lost her appetite.

Bree pulled the tie of her bathrobe tight and tucked her tousled morning hair behind her ear. There was something symbolic about how straight her hair was now, like the good sex she'd been having with Orson had relaxed every part of her. She walked to the island, sitting on a stool across from Danielle.

"Danielle, sweetie...I'm sorry about last night."

Danielle narrowed her eyes so much that Bree couldn't tell if her eyes were open or not. "For which part, Mother? Insulting me in front of everyone at dinner or..." Danielle fumed. She couldn't say it out loud, not even to hurt Bree.

Bree had to stifle a laugh, swallowing it down like fluttering butterflies into her stomach. "For both." she choked out, walking toward her pantry so that Danielle wouldn't see the ridiculous grin that overtook her face. She'd be grinning like that all day, thinking of all the things Orson had done to her body the previous night. Even now, thinking about it made the room feel hotter. "So! Do you have any plans for the day?" Bree asked her daughter.

Danielle detested the chipper tone of her voice.

"Please never speak to me again." said Danielle. She left her dirty dishes on the counter top and stalked out of the kitchen.

* * *

_I have to get away from this house!_ Danielle thought. _In fact, I may never be able to sleep there again._ She shuddered, closing the front door behind her. At least she'd only had to face her mother that morning. She'd purposefully waited, lying awake in bed, until she was sure Orson had already gone. In a way, she was happy for them, though she'd never be able to admit it. _Maybe now that someone is screwing her brains out she won't be so uptight! _And he seemed nice enough. No creepy vibes like she got from George or Peter. He almost reminded her of her father...

"Ugggh!" Danielle shook the thoughts from her mind with an angry guttural cry. "What the hell is there to do in this hole of a town?!" She hadn't made it past her porch, unable to think of anything interesting to do that didn't involve chatting with her college friends online. "I hate this house, I hate my family and I hate hate hate this stupid vacation!"

* * *

Dylan also enjoyed a bowl of cereal for breakfast that morning. When Katherine came downstairs, she was in much the same mood as Bree had been.

"Wow." Dylan said, trying to fight a smile. "Someone had fun last night."

Katherine looked at Dylan, shocked that she would notice something like that. She got a look at herself in the living room mirror and understood immediately what she meant.

"Can you blame me?" Katherine said. The way she was grinning at herself made her giggle, which made her grin even wider.

"Wow." Dylan repeated, shaking her head.

"So...what do you think of him?" asked Katherine, walking to the couch to sit next to Dylan. They hadn't gotten a chance to discuss Adam before Dylan left the previous night. Adam was still asleep in Katherine's bed, so now was the time.

Dylan pretended to ponder the score. "_Ten._" She said, nodding dramatically.

Katherine's jaw dropped. "Honey, a perfect ten is reserved for the likes of Viggo and...and Johnny!"

"Did Viggo and Johnny ever make you this happy?"

"No, I guess not."

"Hence the ten. He seems really cool. And the age difference is _so_ not an issue, I don't know why you even brought it up."

Katherine pounced on Dylan with a spontaneous hug. "That means a lot to me." she told her. "Because you know that if you didn't approve he'd be gone like that." Katherine snapped her fingers. "Right?"

"Mom." Dylan began in a scolding tone.

"I'm serious. You will always be my number one priority." Katherine said. She tucked a strand of Dylan's hair behind her ear. It was a great relief to get her daughter's approval: now it felt like she and Adam truly belonged together as a full-fledged couple.

"So enough about me." Katherine said, dismissing the subject with a wave of her hand. "What did you and Julie do last night?"

There was a knock on the door then, and later Katherine wouldn't remember if the startled look on Dylan's face came before or after the sharp sound.

"I'll get it!" Dylan said, jumping up from the couch.


	9. Chapter 9

Dylan swung the door open without peeking outside, surprised to find Danielle on the other side.

"Hi, Dylan!" Danielle greeted her with an exaggerated grin plastered on her face.

"Hi, Danielle..." Dylan replied, a little put off by Danielle's friendliness. Girls like Danielle only put on a smile like that when they wanted something from you.

"What's up, girly? Wanna go shopping?"

Dylan felt bad, but her first reaction to Danielle's question was _Ew_. After the show Danielle had put on last night, along with all the stories that Julie had to tell about her, Dylan was not very interested in getting any closer to her as a friend. Ever since the incident with Austin, Danielle and Julie had been sworn enemies, at least from Danielle's side. When Dylan asked Julie about it Julie laughed it off, finding it hilarious that she was hated by the girl that tried to take her boyfriend away. It should have been the other way around, but Danielle was jealous of Julie and couldn't stand the fact that Julie had gotten over it. Okay, maybe Julie wasn't over it and maybe Dylan could tell, but that didn't make Danielle's attitude any less pathetic. And so, even though Danielle had never done anything to Dylan, Dylan had to hate her on Julie's behalf.

Dylan was the type of girl, however, that just didn't have it in her heart to be mean to someone's face, so she tried to think of a way to politely say no without incurring Danielle's bitch-wrath.

"I would," said Dylan. "But I'm getting ready to go out right now. Maybe next time?"

"Where are you going?" asked Danielle.

"I'm going tooo..." Dylan tried to think of a plausible lie, but decided that a partial truth would suffice. "Get my nails done."

"Oh." The friendliness began to fade from Danielle's face as she sensed someone trying to avoid her company. "Can I come with you?" She didn't even need her nails done - she just wanted to test Dylan.

"Um...I'm already going with a friend, we made an appointment."

Danielle's face grew even colder.

"A friend?" she repeated, subtley mocking Dylan's sweet voice. "You mean Julie?"

"Yes, I'm going with Julie."

"Aw, how sweet. And you're worried we'll get into a catfight?"

"No..." Dylan said slowly, not sure how to respond without taking a side.

Danielle sighed, dropping her condescending tone. Danielle knew that it was easier to manipulate someone that thought they were your friend, so she turned pleasant again all of a sudden. It was very offputting, but it always worked to distract her victims.

"I'm just kidding." said Danielle. "I understand. Oh, do you have any mascara I could borrow?"

"Uh, sure..."

Danielle barged past Dylan and entered the Mayfair house at her own invitation.

"I guess I forgot to pack it when I came home!" Danielle explained. She'd just made a lame excuse to get into Dylan's room, and even she wasn't sure why. By the end of Danielle's visit they would either be best buddies or she would have a little fun making Dylan uncomfortable. Danielle won either way.

"Hi, Danielle." said Katherine, crossing paths with them at the bottom of the staircase.

"Hi Mrs. Mayfair!" Danielle called back in an overly pleasant tone, jogging up the stairs ahead of Dylan. Katherine made a face at Dylan, and Dylan responded with a shrug.

"Don't forget," said Katherine. "You have that appointment with J-"

"I didn't forget!" Dylan interrupted her, quickly following Danielle up the stairs.

"Jeez, bite my head off why don't you?" Katherine muttered, and went to make some coffee.

* * *

Dylan felt bad. Danielle was obviously very jealous of someone like Julie, who had her mother's respect and plenty of friends. It was really the only reason she was letting Danielle poke around in her things for something she probably could have borrowed from her mother. _If they weren't one step above estranged._ Dylan reminded herself. She tried to imagine what it would be like to not be able to share things with her mother.

"All my makeup is in that little bag." She told Danielle, pointing to a pouch on her dresser. "Take whatever you need."

"Thaaanks." said Danielle, making a big show of rooting through the items. "Oh. You don't have to watch me. I mean, you probably need to get ready to go, right? Don't let me keep you."

"Okay..." Dylan said. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom. Take your time."

Danielle waited for Dylan to leave, and then she chuckled.

"Oh, I will Dylan." She chuckled again. _You are so naive, my little friend. Leaving me alone in your room to snoop around... _Danielle put the bag of cosmetics down, not even bothering to find the mascara. She looked on Dylan's desk, finding notebooks with math problems and English essays in them.

"Borinnng!"

She started to sing "Stupid Girl" under her breath as she looked around for something more interesting. "Stupid gii-rrl...all ya had ya wasted...all ya had ya- Oh, what's this?" she said, reaching into Dylan's garbage can and pulling out a crumpled piece of note paper. She nearly gagged when she saw it was a letter to Julie.

"Oh _gawd_, a f*cking friendship letter. 'Oh, Julie, you're so great, I love you, blah blah BLAH." she said out loud, mocking them. Danielle almost threw it back in the trash can, but the jealous side of her that craved that kind of bond felt compelled to read the whole thing.

"Dear Julie..." she murmured, scanning the page for juicy bits. "Always been best friends, so nice to me, blah blah blah...'teddy bears'? Wha? Whatever, stupid stupid, I'm a boring slut, blah blah blah..." Danielle stopped and squinted at the page. She had to read the last part a few times before realizing what it actually meant.

"Oh...my.....god."

Danielle heard a door open down the hall, and knew that Dylan would be back at any moment. She stuffed the letter into her pocket and walked toward the door, nearly running into Dylan.

"Hey, did you find it?" asked Dylan.

"Yeeeah," said Danielle, sounding disappointed. "But it wasn't the kind I like. Thanks anyway."

Dylan noticed that Danielle seemed distracted, like she'd thought of something better to do.

"You're welcome." said Dylan, though Danielle was already halfway down the stairs when she said it. She heard Danielle say goodbye to Katherine before the front door slammed.

* * *

Danielle nearly jumped for joy when she got outside. The note felt like a little gold nugget in her pocket.

"Lord," she pretended to pray. "Thank you so much for showing me this note. It totally makes up for hearing my mom getting banged by her boyfriend last night. And I promise that I will only use it for evil!" Danielle cackled, and then realized that Katherine's front windows were open.

"Oops! Heh heh..." Danielle said, trotting off to her own house. She'd struck gold for sure, but now she had to decide what to do with it.


	10. Chapter 10

Bree was startled when Danielle burst through the front door. She'd been tidying the living room, moving objects that to any other person would have seemed to be in a perfectly acceptable place.

"I'm going to the library!" Danielle shouted. All Bree saw was a brightly dressed blur run past her and up the stairs. When she returned, her hair was up in a pony tail and she'd changed her clothes. "Did I say library?" Danielle asked Bree. She'd lied by reflex, realizing after she said it that it was nowhere near believable. "I meant shopping."

Bree shook her head, puzzled.

"Danielle, do I need to take you to a psychiatrist? You're showing signs of manic-depression."

"Motherrr, shopping is the only true therapy. Can I have some money?"

Bree gave Danielle a look, but she still felt bad for their dinner fight.

"Yes, Danielle. How much do you need?"

"A hundred?"

Bree gave Danielle another, more meaningful look.

"Okay, jeez! Forty?"

"Fine. Let me get my purse."

"Don't worry, I already took it! Thank you soooo much!"

Danielle gave Bree a kiss on her cheek and bolted from the house.

"And they say _I_ need pills." Bree muttered.

The phone rang then, and Bree was happy for the distraction.

"Van de Kamp residence." Bree sang.

"Hello, gorgeous."

"Orson!" said Bree, going all fuzzy inside. She hadn't spent more than 4 hours awake without him but it felt like an eternity had passed. "Where did you go this morning? I thought you didn't have to work until eleven?"

"I got called in early. You'd be surprised how many people wait until Saturday to take care of their tooth emergencies. Did you get my note?"

"Yes, it was lovely. It was the next best thing to waking up next to you."

"Next time I'll tell them to call someone else, because you don't deserve the next best thing."

"You know," said Bree. "For a second there I thought I'd scared you off..."

"How so?"

"The things we did...the things we said...?"

"Have been on my mind all day." Orson finished. "Bree, leaving you alone in that bed this morning was the hardest thing I've ever done."

Bree smiled, in spite of Orson's obvious exaggeration.

"So...what are you wearing?" Orson asked.

Bree looked down at herself; it was an average outfit.

"Oh, just a cardigan and a tweed skirt. The usual."

Orson chuckled, wondering if Bree had understood the way he really meant it.

"And," he said. "If I were to tear those clothes off, what would I see?"

Bree could have smacked herself in the head for missing the subtext. She bit her lip, feeling pleasantly bothered, and tried to play along. She lowered her voice and made sure Orson could hear her raised eyebrow even though he couldn't see it.

"Why don't you come over and see for yourself?"

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Orson said abruptly, and Bree heard the click as he hung up his end of the line. Bree looked at her phone, a smile slowly spreading across her face. She couldn't believe he would leave work in the middle of the day just to see her. As the minutes passed, her anticipation grew. If she hadn't been craving his touch before, she could barely contain herself now. The only thing keeping her clothes on was the knowledge that Orson would be ripping them off of her himself. Bree's heart started to beat a little faster. _Should I wait here, in the living room, or should I put on something sexy and pose on the bed?_ After fretting for a while in her foyer, Bree decided she should at least make sure the bedroom was as tidy as she'd made living room.

Bree was on the first stair when she heard the door open behind her. She spun around and saw Orson in the doorway, looking at her like a ravenous animal.

"Hi." she said, almost giggling with excitement. Orson took a step toward her and she instinctively took a step back. _Oh god he could pounce at any moment..._ Bree continued to climb the stairs backwards, steadying herself with a hand on the banister. Orson was smiling at her the way he had last night, and she felt like she was on fire again.

He took two more steps toward the stairs.

"Orson..." Bree warned him playfully. "Try to be gentle..."

He bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Bree squealed, turning and running away from him. On the landing she spun back around suddenly and surprised him with a kiss. Orson wrapped his arms around her and squeezed until she could scarcely breathe. His hands were all over her, and she thought for a moment he really was going to tear her clothes off.

Bree flashed back to their near-tryst in the coat closet. Every time felt like that time, like the first time he'd ever touched her this way. She was a different person when he took her like this. _Or am I just becoming more like myself?_ she wondered. _Oh just shut up and enjoy being used!_

They were still on the landing. Without breaking their kiss Bree moved a foot toward the next step, trying to pull Orson up with her. She felt him budge, but they didn't get very far before Bree stumbled, falling right on her ass.

Orson caught himself on his hands so that he wouldn't crush her. Bree laughed, embarassed, but Orson didn't show any signs of slowing down. He'd gone straight for the spot on her neck that drove her crazy.

"Mmm," Bree whined. "Help me up!"

"We made it upstairs, didn't we?" countered Orson. Technically, they were on the second floor. Only Bree seemed to mind that they were literally on the floor. All it took to distract her was one irresistible phrase whispered in her ear.

"I need you..." said Orson, his way of asking her permission. "Now."

Without another word, Bree let Orson hike her skirt up. She couldn't even feel the floor digging into her back anymore, or the itchy scratch of the carpet on the exposed parts of her body. She wanted him so badly she could almost feel him inside of her already. She whimpered as he ran his hand up her thigh; her underwear wasn't going to be pulled down, merely pulled to the side, but even in his rush he wanted to make sure she was ready for him.

"Yes..." Bree said breathlessly, nodding as he touched her. Permission granted.

* * *

Danielle posed in front of the mirror in a dressing room.

_Forty dollars?_ she scoffed, admiring the $200 price tag as much as the fit of the pair of jeans she was trying on at the moment. _Good thing I took Mom's credit card too!_ Danielle chuckled, and sat down on the velvety padded bench the store provided. She took out her cell, scrolling down her list of contacts until she got to the D's. Danni, Darla, Deb...so many frenemies that never called her, and that she would never call herself. She got to Dylan's name, and pressed send.

* * *

Dylan heard her phone ringing in her purse. The manicurist was just finishing the pinky nail on her right hand, and she reached in with her untouched left hand to see who was calling.

"It's Danielle." Dylan said, a little puzzled.

"That's random." said Julie.

"Not really..." Dylan said, not sure if she should tell Julie about Danielle's visit. It was a simple story, but Dylan was having such a good time with Julie and she didn't want to ruin it. "She came to my house this morning. She said she needed mascara, but then she left and said I didn't have the kind she liked."

Julie rolled her eyes. "Typical Danielle, trying to mooch and then telling you your stuff isn't good enough."

Meanwhile, the phone kept ringing.

* * *

"Pick up, stupid!" said Danielle.

Someone knocked on the dressing room door, an employee asking if it was occupied.

"Yes, someone is in here!" Danielle shouted back. "Now leave me alone or I'll boycott this stupid store!"

* * *

"I won't answer it." Dylan said, trying to silence the ringer left-handed.

"No, go ahead." said Julie. She hadn't meant for Dylan to feel bad about talking to Danielle. "I'd love to know what she wants now."

Dylan put her thumb on the button to answer the call, feeling foolish. _Go on. It's not like you're interrupting a date._

"Hey Danielle, what's up?"

Danielle smiled to herself, smoothing the wrinkled peice of paper on her lap.

"Hi, Dylan. I need to talk to you about something. I need to get something off my chest."

"Um....okay...." said Dylan. Julie looked at her quizzically.

Danielle cleared her throat. "Well..." she said, and began to read Dylan's note to her. "I've always considered you one of my best friends. Ever since we were little, you have been nothing but nice to me and I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you."

_What is she talking about?_ thought Dylan. _She didn't know me when we were little... _

"I _do _remember playing teddy bears with you..." Danielle continued, making her voice dramatically lovey-dovey. "It was one of the many things you did to make my life bearable when my parents were fighting."

Dylan's blood ran cold as she realized what was happening. Danielle had found her note, and now she knew her secret. She could even hear the sound of the paper crinkling in Danielle's evil little hands.

"And I will never forget what you did for me the night before we came home....Dylan? Are you there?"

"Yes." Dylan said. Danielle could hear the seething anger in just the one word.

"Oh no, am I interrupting your date with Julie?" Danielle snickered. "I'll let you go...for now. Maybe I can read you the rest later. Have a nice day, Dyl-pickle!"

Dylan pulled the phone away from her ear, not quite believing what had just happened.

"Dylan? What's wrong?" Julie asked. Dylan was staring at the phone like she'd heard a ghost on the line.

"Nothing." Dylan said, though her cheeks burned red.

_Is she angry? Embarassed? Scared?_ wondered Julie.

"Hey," Julie said aloud. "Whatever she said, it's bullshit right? Don't worry about it."

Dylan needed to cry, but if she did, how would she be able to explain what was wrong to Julie?

"Yeah, total B.S." Dylan agreed, her voice a ghostly whisper from the lump in her throat.

* * *

Danielle closed her phone, feeling quite pleased with herself. She stood up and took another look at her ass in the mirror.

"I'll take them!" She chirped, and ripped the price tag off. She stuffed her old jeans into her oversized purse. "I guess I won't need that credit card after all."


	11. Chapter 11

"Yes..." Bree said again. She let her head fall back on the floor, her pleasure becoming less self-conscious the longer Orson touched her. With his hand still up her skirt Orson was just teasing her now. His needs were urgent but he couldn't help himself, he lived for those sounds she made.

He took his hand away slowly, causing Bree to whimper in protest.

"No, that felt so good." she moaned.

Orson smiled, his belt already undone.

"I can't wait anymore." he told her. Bree watched as he lowered his hips to hers, her skirt stretched tightly around the tops of her legs. _He's going to take me right here on the floor!_ she thought, and it made her feel wild. She gasped as he entered her more forcefully than usual. Her hands clutched at his back, barely able to keep up with the in and out motion, until he took her hands with his own and pinned them above her head.

"Orson-!" Bree panted.

"Tell me if it's too much." Orson said, slowing his movements and loosening his grip on her wrists.

"No, keep going." Bree said quickly. Orson picked it back up again, building up to his previous pace. "Harder." Bree whimpered. She cried out when Orson obeyed her command. Their mutual domination was blowing her mind, the way she still controlled him even as he pinned her to the floor.

"Bree," Orson said, his voice gruff and uncontrolled. "I'm not going to last much longer..."

"Harder!" was all she could respond with. "Please..." she begged him. "Just a little longer..."

"Oh god, Bree..." he groaned, unsure if he could fulfill either request. He was already worried that he was going to hurt her, but how could he stop with her writhing beneath him, begging him to keep going? His worrying became pointless as he felt himself losing control...

"BreeI'msorry-" he said, choking on the words as he came inside of her. His hands tightened around her wrists, the slight pain snapping Bree back to reality. He let go as he caught his breath and gently slipped out of her.

"Oh..." Bree sighed, at once sympathetic and disappointed. She felt like someone had put out her lit fuse right before a huge explosion. Orson kissed her mouth, calming her trembling lips, and hopped up so that he could fasten his pants.

"I promise I will make it up to you tonight."

"Orson, wait, I-"

"I have to get back to work!" Orson said, looking at his watch. He scrambled back down to kiss Bree again, a peck on the forehead this time, and then jogged down the stairs. "I love you!" he shouted on his way out the door.

Bree propped herself up on her elbows, befuddled to say the least. Her skirt was still up to her waist and she wasn't quite sure what had just happened. Orson hadn't torn her clothes off after all, that was for sure. Bree lifted her hips off the floor so she could pull her skirt back down, wincing as she realized she had to rearrange her underwear. "Oh....goodness." she muttered.

Bree sat up, reaching up to smooth her hair and grimacing at the ratty mess she found on the back of her head. The hot feeling of being screwed by her boyfriend on a staircase had disappated like a puff of smoke in a strong wind. It was being replaced by resentment.

To make matters worse, there was a knock at the door. Katherine opened the door without being asked, like she always did, and saw Bree sitting at the top of the steps, leaning on the top post with the look of a lost child.

"Bree?" Katherine said, cautiously approaching the bottom of the stairs. "Are you okay?"

Bree sighed and stood up, knowing she'd have to tell Katherine all about it now. One, to satisfy Katherine's already piqued curiousity, and also to vent. She traipsed down the stairs, flipping her hair behind her shoulder and holding her head high.

"Hello, Katherine." Bree said tersely.

Katherine's concerned expression turned slowly to one of curiosity and amusement as Bree joined her on the first floor.

"What happened?"

When Bree smoothed her shirt and shifted her shoulder like her back ached, Katherine was able to make a few guesses of her own.

"...Was that Orson I saw driving away on my way over here?"

"Yes, Katherine. It most probably was."  
"Breeee, what happened? Tell me!"

Bree crossed her arms and tried not to fidget. Her shame over all matters sexual was back firmly in place. She found it hard to discuss when not in the act itself.

"Orson left work to see me -"

"To 'see' you? Or to get some?"

"We made love." Bree confirmed, correcting her at the same time.

"Where did you do it?" Katherine interrupted, knowing there was so much more to the story than Bree would reveal if left to tell the story herself. She saw Bree's eyes shift, a quick glance to the stairs. Katherine's jaw almost dropped, but she was smiling too much to be shocked. "The stairrrrs? That's kinda...freaky. For you."

Bree did not see the humor in it, or at least pretended not to, and gave Katherine a look.

"So what went wrong?" Katherine prodded her.

"Nothing went _wrong_, it's just....Orson...." Bree filled in the blank with a vague hand motion. "Before I did."

Katherine let out a tiny laugh, trying hard not to embarass Bree any further. "That filthy bastard! What did he say?"

"That he'd make it up to me tonight."

"Oh, Bree." Katherine said.

"I know. I was his lunch screw!" Bree exclaimed, embarassed but smiling. It gave Katherine permission to full out laugh.

"I can't believe he did that to you!"

"It wasn't as bad as it sounds. I was...encouraging him."

"Really?" Katherine said, curious again.

"Well, as you can imagine, he was in quite a rush."

"Obviously. You didn't even make it all the way up."

"No, but Orson did." Bree said, smirking at her own joke.

"Bree Van de Kamp!" Katherine scolded her. "Tell me more."

Bree fidgeted a bit more, trying to build up to something. "We were _trying _to make it to the bedroom, but I tripped and fell, and he didn't stop. He was being so...forceful....and....."

Katherine tried to be patient and hold her tongue but she couldn't take the suspense. "Just say it!"

"Katherine, it felt _so. good_." Bree gushed suddenly. "I kept telling him to go harder and give me more, it almost hurt but in a good way, a _really _good way, I mean like wild abandon, lose-yourself-in-the-moment good way. But he was so excited that he just couldn't hold on for long enough and he just..." Bree motioned with her hands again. "And now I feel like I'm going to burn up, I was so close!"

"Whoa." Katherine said, eyes wide. "Once you get going..."

"What does that even mean, 'I'll make it up to you'? I want it now, dammit!"

Bree was touching the back of her neck, rubbing the tight muscles she'd nearly strained while arching her back on the floor. Katherine could suddenly see an image in her mind of Bree and Orson going at it like Bree had described. All this talk was starting to turn her on.

"He better have one hell of a plan." said Katherine, thinking of Adam after she said it.

"And he didn't even help me up, he just kissed my forehead and left!"

"Your forehead?" Katherine said, aghast. "Someone needs an ass-kicking. You have to get him back for this!"

"How do you suggest I do that?"

"Oh, you know. Turn the tables...make him feel how you feel now."

"I don't want to punish him; I'm not really that upset. Could he really help it when I was being so...forceful too?"

"This kind of punishment will be fun for both of you! Now let's brainstorm."  
Bree rolled her eyes. "We should be working Mrs. Hannaford's latest gallery show."

"We'll get to that, but in the meantime we need to plan your revenge."

"Revenge?" Bree repeated, worry in her voice.

"_Sexy_ revenge." Katherine said, arching an eyebrow for dramatic effect.


	12. Chapter 12

Bree was lighting a single candle on her dining room table when she heard the knob on her front door jiggle. She usually kept the door unlocked when she was home, but she'd locked it that afternoon in anticpation of one particular guest that usually let himself in. She heard a knock on the door then, and she finished lighting the candle before calling out "Just a minuuute!"

She took her time shaking out the match, looking at the table, set for two, to make sure that everything was perfect. Her visitor knocked agian.

"I'm coming!" Bree called out, taking a few more minutes to check herself out in a nearby mirror. She pulled her sweater down a little to reveal more cleavage and scrunched her hair up to give it some more volume. Then, she took out a tube of bright red lipstick and reapplied. There was a third knock at the door, this one louder than the last.

"Patience, darling." Bree said under her breath. "It's going to be a long night."

After checking her mascara and eyeliner, she finally sauntered over to the door and opened up. She leaned in the doorway and looked Orson up and down.

Orson looked Bree up and down as well; she'd really dressed up for him. She watched him drink in the sight of her, empowering her to keep up her little charade. She could tell she'd caught Orson off guard, and it put a smile on her face. Phase one - confuse the hell out of him - had begun.

"Hi." said Bree.

"Hi." Orson replied, looking a little unsure. There was something in her eyes...

"Why are you just standing there? Come in!" Bree stepped to the side so that he could move past her. On his way, Orson leaned in for a kiss but Bree pretended not to notice, turning on her heel and heading toward the kitchen.

"Take a seat," she said over her shoulder, gesturing toward the dining room table. "Dinner's ready."

Orson did as told, excited at the prospect of a home cooked meal by Bree.

"So you're not angry with me about this afternoon?" he asked, pulling in his chair.

Bree peeked her head out of the kitchen, a bright smile on her face.

"Angry? Why would I be angry?"

She popped back, picking up a plate and carrying it out to her place at the table. She sat down and put a napkin on her lap.

"Well, since I left so soon after...uh...Bree?"

Bree had a fork in her hand. She looked up at Orson with wide, innocent eyes.

"Yes, Orson?"

"...Where's my plate?"

"Oh!" Bree smiled sheepishly, putting her napkin on the table and getting back up. "How silly of me!" She walked to the kitchen, and when she came back she had a bag from McDonald's in her hand. She walked over to Orson's side of the table and dropped it in front of him. "Bon apetit."

Orson stared at the white paper bag, eyebrows furrowed in confusion until the obvious occurred to him. He chuckled and crossed his arms.

"So you are angry at me."

Bree tilted her head to the side. "Of course not. Does it bother you that you only get a burger and fries when I have this balsamic glazed pork loin in front of me?"

Orson smiled, knowing that he deserved it. He opened the bag, only to find a small box of cold fries.

"By the way," Bree said, sticking a fork in her first bit of warm, delicious pork. "Since I got it a few hours ago, the burger got cold. I didn't want you to get food poisoning so I threw it out. Do you want ketchup for your fries?"

* * *

"Mmm," Bree moaned. She'd just finished her last bite, lightly dabbing at her mouth with her napkin. "That was the best pork loin I have ever made, without a doubt. How were your fries?"

Orson was watching Bree with a smirk, arms crossed. He'd finished quite a while ago, since ten french fries didn't last very long at all. "They were cold and unsatisfying. I think I get the point, Bree."

"Oh Orson, the night isn't over yet. I haven't even begun to make my point."

"Is that so? What else do you have in store for me?"

"It's no fun to ruin a surprise. You'll just have to wait."

_Like you made me wait, all day. _Bree thought. She'd wipe that smug smile off his face later.

"In the meantime, I have to make a phone call. Go make yourself comfortable in the living room."

Bree made sure Orson was safely out of earshot before picking up the phone. She quickly dialed Katherine's number.

"Hello?"

"Katherine, I did it."

"Bree, I didn't think you'd actually go through with it!"

"Honey, you should have seen me when I was still married. I've thrown pee at a man, believe me this is kid stuff."

Katherine was a little shocked. She rarely saw this side of Bree, or at least she rarely gave her the chance to show it.

"I suppose you did seduce your current boyfriend while I was on a date with him." Katherine admitted. "And here I am, trying to teach the master! What do you need my help for?"

"Oh, it was easy with Rex. He was always pissing me off. But Orson-"

"Don't! Don't tell me you can't be mean to him because he's so nice, or so cute, or so charming."

Bree peeked into the living room and saw Orson waiting patiently on the couch.

"All of the above?" Bree said.

"Ohhh. no you don't," said Katherine. "Remember what he did! You can't give up now!"

"I won't! I won't. I just needed a pep talk."

Bree heard Katherine giggle on the other end, and then her voice got super serious.

"Don't let him romance you into thinking you're even - you have to make him please you, and then leave him wanting more. Go crazy on him, Bree. I know you can do it."

"Thanks."

Bree set the phone down, biting her lip in anticipation. Now she was ready for the next phase - drive him wild.

* * *

As she hung up the phone, Katherine heard her front door open. Dylan walked in, and Katherine noticed her sparkly blue nail polish right away.

"Wow, that's quite a statement, Dylan."

Dylan didn't respond, and Katherine thought maybe she said the wrong thing.

"How did your day with Julie go? Did you have fun at the salon?"

Dylan seemed to ignore her again, but then it became evident that she hadn't been listening to a thing Katherine said. She was staring off into space, nearly missing the table when she put her bag down.

"Uh, earth to Dylan? Helloooo? This is your mother speaking, please come in?"

Dylan looked up slowly. "Huh?"

Katherine patted the couch next to her. Dylan walked over and sat down, wondering why her mother was looking at her with such concern.

"Dylan, you've seemed a little...off since you got home."

"Sorry, I was distracted."

"No, I mean since you got home from school. Did something happen that you want to talk about?"

Dylan shrugged. "Not really."

"Okay...well, are there any boys that you like? A boyfriend perhaps?"

Katherine noticed Dylan fidget a little when she asked her last two questions, and knew that she'd hit some nerve.

"I did kind of meet someone..." said Dylan.

Katherine's face lit up at the news. "You did? What's he like?"

Instead of being full of girlish excitement, Dylan's face looked downright pitiful.

"Mom...do you promise you won't be mad?"  
"Mad? Sweetie, why would I be mad?"

Dylan looked away, scared now that she'd already started telling her. There was no turning back or covering it up now.

"I..." Dylan started, not sure how to say it.

"It's okay, you can tell me." Katherine said quietly. She was scared too; the last time it was about a boy, Wayne had come back into their lives.

Dylan took a deep breath. _Stop being such a baby and just say it!_

"I'm in love with Julie Mayer." she blurted.

Katherine's mouth hung slightly open. She blinked once, trying to process everything that Dylan's statement implied. _They've been friends since they were babies...oh my god, is she joking? No she wouldn't joke about that, that's not her sense of humor at all. Well if she's not joking then...oh. Oh my...._

"Are..." Katherine started and stopped. "Are you a...a lesbian?" she got out eventually.

Dylan nodded.

"Oh honey, don't look so ashamed." said Katherine. Then it occurred to her that maybe it wasn't shame that was making Dylan so miserable. "Does Julie feel the same way?" Katherine asked her. This time, Dylan shook her head no.

Katherine's heart went out to Dylan. Being in love with someone was hard enough when it wasn't being reciprocated, and all this while coming out to your mother!

"Oh, honey." Katherine said again. "Have you told her about your feelings?"

"No, but...something happened right before we came home." Dylan glanced up at Katherine, her eyes darting back to her lap when she saw her mother watching her expectantly. This was going to be devastatingly embarassing but she had to share it with someone or her feelings would make her implode.

"There was this, uh, party. It was mostly upper classmen but I knew Julie would be there. It was on her Facebook..."

"Hmm, I see..." Katherine nodded, thinking to herself how that site seemed to be good for all kinds of trouble. "Was there alcohol at this party?"

Dylan hesitated, biting her lower lip. "Yes."

"I see." Katherine repeated. "Did you have any?"

".....Yes."

"I see..."

"Mom!"

"What?"

"Stop saying 'I see.'"

"Sorry! I'm just trying not to freak out."

"Me too, and that is not helping."

"I'm sorry. Please go on."

Dylan reset herself, picking up where she'd left off.

"So I had a couple drinks, and...okay, I had way too many drinks. I was trying to impress everyone and it totally backfired, I know it's wrong and I swear I will never, ever do it again. Okay?"

Katherine pressed her lips together and nodded.

"And, I guess this guy, this junior, he was trying to...to take advantage of me..."  
Katherine's eyes went wide.

"Nothing happened!" Dylan quickly added. "Julie made sure I was okay, he wasn't even trying that hard. Oh god, I shouldn't be telling you this."

"Yes you should!' Katherine said quickly. "Just tell me that's the worst thing that happened."

"It was, I promise. Anyway...I threw up, and Julie got a garbage can and held my hair and made sure I drank water."

"That's good, good for her."

"And then she let me spend the night with her in her room."

"Oh. That's good too...?"

"Yeah, it was so nice of her. You don't understand, she's just so...perfect, and sweet, and understanding."

"Okay...so, is that what happened?"

Dylan thought about the night she spent with Julie, bodies pressed together under her warm blankets, Julie's arm wrapped around her waist just under her breasts...and decided that she didn't need to share the _exact _moment she knew she loved Julie.

"Yeah, basically. But that's not it. I wrote a letter to Julie telling her how I felt, but I chickened out and threw it in the trash." Dylan started to tear up, and it made Katherine's heart melt into sadness.

"Remember when Danielle came over and she was acting really weird?" Dylan asked, wiping her cheeks dry. "Well, she found the note, and she took it and-" Dylan began to cry in earnest, barely able to get the words out. "She called while we were at the salon and read it to me over the phone!"

"Oh my god!" Katherine said, taking Dylan in her arms. She stroked her daughters hair, not believing that Bree's own daughter could do such a thing.

"So," Dylan continued, sniffling and sobbing. "Now she knows and she's going to tell Julie!"

"Did she say that?" asked Katherine.

"No-o-o," Dylan whimpered, her voice shaky. "But why wouldn't she? Everything Julie's ever told me about her is true, she's a cold-hearted skanky bitch!"

"She is indeed, sweetheart. She is indeed. Do you want me to go talk to her-?"

"No!" Dylan said, sitting back. "You can't tell anyone about this, not Mrs. Van de Kamp, not Mrs. Mayer, not even Adam!"

"I won't, I promise. I'm just glad you told me. In fact, I'm honored that you would tell me that. I know it must have been really hard for you."

Dylan let out a shaky breath. "I feel a little better now. It's a relief that someone else knows. Thanks for not freaking out."

"You know I love you no matter what, right?"

"I know. I love you too, Mom. I just don't know what I'm going to do."

Katherine wished she could tell Dylan that everything was going to be alright, but if Danielle opened her big evil mouth, and if Julie wasn't as perfect and understanding as Dylan thought, then she was headed for a very painful time.


	13. Chapter 13

"Comfy?"

Orson turned and saw Bree walking into the living room.

"Quite." he replied, still amused by Bree's act.

"Good. Because I thought we could just...sit together and watch a movie tonight." Bree put one knee on the couch beside Orson, leaning over him so she could get the dvd cases on the table next to the couch. "Oops." she said, though she very purposely brushed up against him as she did it. Orson had more than a peek down her low cut sweater, indulging in what little she was giving away. He looked up at her face, one eyebrow raised. Bree was smirking back at him. She grabbed the three dvd's and plopped down on the cushion next to Orson.

"What do we have here...ooh, _Fatal Attraction_! And what else..." Bree flipped to the next case. "_Basic Instinct_...and _Body Heat_. Which one should we watch?"

"I don't know. That's quite a selection, Bree."

"Mmhm." said Bree, nodding in agreement.

"And they're all about men whose lives are destroyed because they have sex with a crazy woman."

"Reeeally?" Bree asked, pretending to be shocked. "How odd that the man at the video store didn't mention that."

"We can watch whichever one you want to watch." Orson offered, putting a hand on Bree's knee. Bree looked down at his hand, picking it up and placing it back in his lap with a sarcastic forced chuckle.

"_Body Heat_, then." she said. "Let me just...slip it in, and I'll be right back."

* * *

Bree snuggled up to Orson on the couch, resting her head on his shoulder. He kept his hands to himself, and she rewarded him by putting his arm around her shoulder. During certain scenes, Bree would rest her hand on Orson's thigh, just to toy with him. Orson was a patient man, but knowing that Bree was thinking about the exact same thing that he was, and knowing that she knew that _he_ knew, was starting to get to him.

A little over halfway through, Bree yawned.

"Excuse me!" she said, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sleepy..." Bree looked up at Orson, pouting and batting her eyelashes. "Take me to bed?"

Orson raised his eyebrows, almost imperceptibly. He cleared his throat, making sure his voice still worked after such a long period of being hot and bothered while having to hide it. "Are you sure?"

"That's where people sleep, silly. Unless you want to get a stiff...back from sleeping on the couch all night." said Bree, deliberately spacing out the words.

"Ah. Right." said Orson. _How silly of me to think you were implying sex. _he thought ruefully. Bree tried to hide her grin. He was behaving so well, so politely, that if it weren't for the pure joy of messing with his mind, Bree would have given in to their mutual desires already. The innuendos and hints were just too much fun. Seeing the hope fill his eyes just to snuff it out moments later, it was starting to become addicting.

Bree reached up to caress Orson's face. "We can just..." she said, leaning in to give him a loving kiss on the lips. "Cuddle." she finished afterward. She touched her nose to his, nuzzling him like the little kitten she'd become. With a tiny giggle she stood up, taking Orson by the hand to pull him along.

* * *

_That skirt_... Orson thought hungrily as he followed Bree up the stairs. She was swishing her hips at him shamelessly, pretending not to notice him noticing. _It hugs her ass like a-_

Bree turned, interrupting his thought.

"You're okay with this, right?" she asked.

"Of course." said Orson, though in his mind he was wondering somewhat desperately whether she was really going to make him go all night without getting some. She wouldn't dare...would she?

He followed her all the way to her bedroom, where she let go of his hand. Bree walked over to her dresser, taking off a pair of earrings and setting them down gingerly.

"Orson..."

She could see him in the mirror, leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed, watching her with a curious expression.

"Could you unzip my skirt?"

She stared at him intensely in the mirror. She put her hands on the dresser and leaned over just slightly. In her mind she was squealing, and she couldn't wait to tell Katherine all about it.

"No." said Orson.

Bree faltered; that wasn't part of the plan. She stood straight and turned to face him.

"What do you mean...'no'?" she asked him. She was trying to stay confident but he was smiling at her the way he had been that morning.

"I mean no." said Orson, walking slowly toward her. He put his hands to her hips, pushing her back until she hit the dresser. She felt his hands travel up her sides, groping her roughly as he pressed himself against her. "I know what you want."

Bree stifled a gasp, struggling to hold on to her self control. "Oh really?" she breathed. With one hand on the back of her neck, he moved his head down so he could kiss that spot on her neck that made her eyes roll back.

"Yes." he said. "And I'm sorry I didn't give it to you earlier."

Orson put his mouth to her ear, and as he whispered each dirty detail Bree could feel herself giving in to him with her body as well as her mind. With his free hand he began to hike her skirt up like he'd done earlier that day, but this time the scene was going to play in slow motion. His hand moved up her leg, over skin as smooth and soft as silk, massaging the sounds he loved so much right out of her.

Bree found herself swept away yet again. Every time he touched her it was a different experience, and she felt as hot for him now as the first time they'd kissed. He managed to make their love new and exciting each time they were together, yet he had become so familiar with her body that he never got it wrong. From start to finish it would be the best time, every time. She'd lived for so long never knowing it could be like that, but now she knew what passion did for a relationship. Now she knew what it could and should be like, and how she wanted it.

Putting one of his strong arms around her waist, Orson lifted Bree from the ground, laid her down on the bed and worshipped her body in every way he knew how. He had never been this way for any other woman, and would never be for another ever again. It had taken a little while, but Bree had opened herself to him completely, and he could tell from the way she clung to him desperately and begged him never to stop that she needed him as much as he needed her.

* * *

Later that night, after another exhausting exploration of each other's bodies, Bree lay on her side, propping herself up with her elbow next to Orson, on his stomach, and she ran her fingernails up and down his back.

"So..." Orson said lazily, eyes closed but still very awake. "How did your plan for the night work out?"

Bree rested her head in her free hand. "Well, on the one hand you could say that it failed miserably."

Orson chuckled smugly, opening one eye to peek at his gorgeous attempted temptress. "You mean you didn't mean to let me take you like the hungry animal I am whenever I'm around you?"

"On the other hannnd," Bree went on, sliding down to lay closer beside him. "I don't know if I could bring myself to call what we just did a failure."

"Mmm..." Orson put his arm over Bree's waist, curling it around her thin frame and pulling her close to him. "What would you call it instead?"

"Perfection."

Orson opened his eyes to look at her, really look at her. His gaze made Bree's heart flutter. Those warm pools of chocolate had been the first thing she really noticed about him.

"You're perfect." he said, and for a moment Bree believed she could finally stop trying.


	14. Chapter 14

Dylan sat on her bed, staring off into space again. No matter what she tried, she couldn't concentrate on anything other than Danielle's cruel prank. It scared her to know that someone else had the power to tell Julie, and that the someone who had the power was a psycho bitch who hurt people for fun. _Why does she hate me?_ Dylan wondered. Katherine insisted it was because she was jealous of her friendship with Julie, but in Dylan's fragile state she didn't know what to believe. After a long time spent wringing her hands, she realized that the only thing she could do now was to tell Julie the truth herself, before Danielle could poison their friendship and twist Dylan's feelings into another sick game.

* * *

_Hello?_

_Hi, Julie. It's me. I mean, it's Dylan._

_I know, I recognized your voice._

_Haha, of course. Um...can I come over?_

_Of course you can, you don't need to ask. _

_Okay. I'll be right over......bye._

_Bye._

* * *

"Mom!" Dylan shouted on her way down the stairs. "I'm going to-"

She stopped abruptly, seeing Katherine on the couch with Adam. They'd very obviously just stopped kissing. Katherine giggled sheepishly, clearing her throat.

"Yes, dear?" said Katherine.

"I'm going to Julie's." said Dylan, giving them a half smile.

"Oh." Katherine said, taken aback. She stood, scuttling away from the couch so she could confer with Dylan without Adam overhearing. "Have you said anything to her?"

"Not yet." said Dylan in a warning tone, uncomfortable discussing it with someone else in the house.

"Okay." Katherine said softly, tucking Dylan's hair behind her ears. "Call me if you guys go out?"

"I will. Bye, mom." Dylan kissed Katherine on the cheek, and waved goodbye to Adam.

"Everything alright?" Adam asked as Katherine returned to him.

"Your lips are moving." Katherine said, climbing right on to his lap. "They should be kissing me."

* * *

Dylan let herself in at the Mayer's house, knocking softly as she opened the door.

"I'm upstairs!" Julie called out. She walked down the first couple stairs, leaning over so she could peek through the railing at Dylan. "What's up?"

Dylan did her best to look happy. Julie was smiling so brightly, she just exuded warmth.

Dylan shrugged. "Nothing much. It smells delicious in here."

"I was making cookies. Come up and have some."

Dylan sighed uneasily. Could the girl get any more perfect? Dylan allowed herself a quick daydream on her way up the stairs - she and Julie, feeding each other chocolate-chocolate-chip morsels while they honeymooned on a tropical island...

"You like walnuts right?" asked Julie, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yup." said Dylan, trying not to think dirtier thoughts as she entered her bedroom.

Julie walked to the desk in her bedroom, where a plate of still-warm cookies sat. She'd noticed right away that Dylan was more withdrawn than usual, like she'd been earlier after their manicures.

"Is...everything okay?" Julie asked tentatively. Dylan hadn't told her what Danielle had said to her on the phone but she knew that it had shaken her badly.

As a reflex, Dylan smiled and she almost said _yes_, but she caught herself. Her smile faded.

"No." she answered, starting down the road to the truth.

Julie's face fell. She hated seeing Dylan this way. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Dylan felt tears starting to well up in her eyes. How was she supposed to say it? Her nerve was disappearing as she thought of all the different ways she could tell Julie how she felt. All of her scenarios ended with Julie frightened and repulsed.

"I have a friend," she said. "I...I fell for..." she stammered, realizing she couldn't say it. "Danielle found a letter I wrote, it was really personal...I was telling someone I was in love with them in it."

"Is that what her phone call was about this afternoon?" asked Julie.

"Yeah. She was reading the letter to me like she wrote it, word for word."

Julie felt an anger rise up in her on Dylan's behalf.

"That's low, even for Danielle." Julie said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Ugh, when did she get so mean? We used to be friends."

Dylan shrugged. She wanted to kick herself for chickening out, and for being such a cry baby. It was no wonder Julie didn't want her, she must seem like such a timid victim.

"Come here." said Julie softly, reaching out her arms. Dylan crossed over to the bed, sitting beside Julie as Julie put her arms around her for a comforting hug. "I'm so sorry, Dylan."

Dylan didn't let the tears control her, letting only a few fall before resolving to be stronger.

"Can we play teddy bears again?" asked Dylan with an embarassed smile.

"Of course we can." said Julie, happy to do whatever she could to make her feel better. They both laid down on the bed, the same way they had the night Dylan spent in Julie's dorm. Julie put her arm around Dylan's waist, and Dylan felt instantly more relaxed. If she couldn't bring herself to tell the truth, then she would have to enjoy what she could.

They laid in silence, until their breathing was synchronized. Dylan breathed in and out, feeling Julie's chest rise and fall with hers. After a while, she wondered if Julie was asleep, but then she felt her move.

"Ah-" said Julie, shifting her weight. "My arm's asleep."

Dylan feared that the game was over, and she would have to get up and go back to worrying about her feelings again, but Julie merely turned over, her back to Dylan. She turned her head, and as Dylan moved to her other side she saw Julie smiling back at her.

"Switch!"

It was an old command - the person not playing the teddy bear could, and any time, decide they wanted to play the teddy bear and they would both switch positions.

Dylan laughed, surprised Julie remembered that rule. When Julie finished settling onto her other side, Dylan put her arm around Julie's waist. She was hyper aware of where she was putting her hand, as if Julie could read the thoughts that were racing through Dylan's mind a mile a minute. She tried to let her arm rest limply above her waist, her fingers barely touching Julie's stomach.

After a few minutes, Julie took her hand, pulling Dylan's arm tighter around herself. Dylan's heart nearly stopped. To Julie it was just a simple nap, but now Dylan's arm and hand were tucked snugly underneath Julie's breasts, those big beautiful things Dylan had gotten a tiny preview of the night before they'd left school for vacation. A small part of Dylan was trying to convince her that Julie was doing it on purpose, that maybe she wanted this too. That small part of her made her just confident enough to put her face on Julie's neck where it met with her shoulder, inhaling quietly so she could smell her gorgeous smelling perfume. Dylan felt Julie squeeze her hand.

_Was that a comforting gesture, or encouragement? Can she tell what I'm doing?_

Julie thought Dylan was asleep and dreaming. She thought it was cute, the way Dylan snuggled against her like she really was a soft teddy bear in her arms. She thought about what Danielle had done to her, and how she was going to help Dylan get her confidence back. She thought about who the friend that Dylan had mentioned could be, and then she felt Dylan's hand move again.

Dylan also wondered if Julie was asleep. Her breathing was even, but not that deep. She thought that this might be the last time they would be so close, both physically and as friends. Julie had her own life at college, one that didn't include a needy childhood friend that couldn't seem to make it on her own. Julie's body felt so soft and warm, filling Dylan with a desire she couldn't ignore. Slowly, she let her thumb wander higher, and it just brushed the underside of Julie's breast. Just this tiny bit of contact made Dylan's desire grow. She wanted to touch and kiss Julie so badly, it hurt not to.

Julie felt Dylan's thumb linger, caressing the round underside of her breast softly. It wasn't an altogether unpleasant sensation, but Julie wasn't sure what to make of it. She couldn't feel Dylan's breathing anymore, and her own breathing had become shallow with anticipation.

Julie hadn't said anything, hadn't moved since Dylan had started. Dylan found herself moving her hand further, achingly slow, until it covered Julie's breast completely. She gave it a soft squeeze, as surprised by her own actions as she was by the fact that Julie hadn't stopped her. Dylan stifled a whimper; for a fleeting moment she was in heaven, until Julie's hand clamped over her own, pulling it away from her body.

"Dylan...?" Julie said softly, wondering if she was waking Dylan from a dream. She turned her head and found Dylan very much awake, gazing back at her with equal amounts of lust and shame.

"Julie..." Dylan was finally ready. "The friend that I'm in love with...it's you."

Julie had no words to say. She was staring back at Dylan, eyes wide with shock. She hadn't seen this coming at all.

Dylan knew that this was the defining moment, the moment where Julie would either make her wishes come true or confirm her worst fears. She also knew she only had two options - run away or kiss her.

Dylan quickly put her lips to Julie's, and she was in heaven again. They were as soft as she'd imagined, even more so. At first, Julie was too shocked to react, letting Dylan kiss her by default, and when Dylan slowly drew her head back, all Julie could do was stare at her in shock. The light in Dylan's eyes turned dull and dark when she saw the girl that she loved with all her heart frozen with fright before her. She realized that Julie hadn't kissed her back, that she'd just laid there because she had nowhere to escape to.

Dylan waited for a reaction, anything from Julie, but the kiss had rendered her speechless.

"I'm sorry!" said Dylan, a hoarse whisper. Tears sprang to Dylan's eyes and spilled onto her cheeks, and after another moment she pushed herself up from Julie's bed and ran from the room.

Julie sat up, her heart pounding, and she put her fingertips to her lips, trying to process all that had just happened.

* * *

Katherine and Adam were still playful and giggling on the couch when the door flew open. Dylan ran straight for the stairs without closing the door behind her, leaving Adam confused and Katherine completely sober.

"Oh no." Katherine breathed.

"What's wrong?" asked Adam, brow furrowed with worry. Anything bad that happened to his girls happened to him too.

Katherine sighed, and Adam knew that their playtime was over.

"Dylan just had her heart broken."


	15. Chapter 15

"Who is it? I'll kick his ass." Adam said, as if it would be so easy.

Katherine smiled at him sadly, her heart melting from his protectiveness.

"It's not like that." she told him, then tried to change the subject. "Do you want to me to make dinner?"

"You're not going to tell me about it?"  
Katherine shook her head no. "I promised Dylan I wouldn't talk about it."

"Not even with me?" Adam said, approaching Katherine with his best disarming, trust-me look.

She touched the side of his face with one small, soft hand. "Not even with you, babe. I'll just say, it's not over a boy."  
Adam furrowed one eyebrow, and furrowed it even more when he realized what that could imply. "It's over a _girl_??"

Katherine's mouth opened slightly, but no words came out right away.

"I didn't say that." She said eventually, though her hesitation and lack of full denial didn't do much to change his mind.

"You _did_ say it." Adam told her with that knowing smirk of his. "You just didn't mean to or realize it at the time."

"Adam..." Katherine began, wanting to deny it but wanting someone to talk to about it even more.

"I won't say a word, I swear." he promised.

"If you do, I will tear off Adam Jr. with a serving fork. Are we clear?"

She saw genuine fear flash in Adam's eyes.

"Uh...okay." he said, not sure he wanted to hear about it anymore.

Katherine peered up the stairs, making sure Dylan's door was shut. She wondered if she should go up and talk to her, but figured that she was probably in an alone type of mood if Julie had just rejected her. Katherine motioned for Adam to walk with her to the kitchen. When they got there, Katherine started to take things out of her cupboards for dinner preparations.

"Dylan came out to me earlier today." said Katherine, taking out a mixing bowl and grabbing a spoon from a container on the counter top. "And not only that, but she told me that she's in love with Julie Mayer."  
"The girl across the street?" asked Adam, taking a seat at the counter. "That's Susan's daughter, right?"

"Yes. They've known each other since the first grade. I was as shocked as you are right now."

"Wow. First Bree's daughter and now Dylan? What's in the water here?"

"Speaking of Danielle," Katherine continued, on a roll now that the truth had come out. "Apparently, she went snooping in Dylan's room and found a letter Dylan wrote to Julie, telling her how she felt."  
"Uh oh...I don't like where this is going."

"Oh, you have no idea. When Dylan was out with Julie today, getting their nails done, Danielle called Dylan and _read the letter over the phone_."

"Are you joking?"

Katherine shook her head slowly, eyebrows raised.

"That's downright evil." said Adam.

"I know. But I think Dylan felt pressured to tell Julie before Danielle could do it herself."

"And that's where she just was." Adam said, as it finally dawned on him what had made Dylan so upset. "Does Bree know what Danielle did?"

"I doubt it. They barely say hello to each other without ripping each others' heads off." Katherine gasped melodramatically, suddenly remembering another juicy bit. "Did I tell you about the other night? Danielle overheard Bree and Orson...you know..."

"No." Adam said. "No, don't tell me that."

Katherine laughed a little at his reaction. "Uh, yeah."

"That is the last thing a kid wants to hear her parents doing. No wonder Danielle is so angry all the time."

Katherine shrugged. "Maybe. I'm just happy someone is rocking Bree's world." Katherine looked at Adam, smiling mischievously. "Like you rock mine."

"Come over here and I'll rock yours right now."

Katherine's mischeivous smile turned into one of regret. "I'm sorry. I'm just not in the mood right now." She sighed, looking at all of the ingredients she'd lined up on her counter as she'd told the story. None of them went together in any recipe she knew. Her shoulders slumped. "I really want to tell Bree about it."  
"Why don't you?"

"Because I know how she'll react. She'll get all superior on me, missing the point entirely, and act like having a gay child is the death of all my dreams and it will all be because I didn't set enough limits for Dylan when she was younger."

Adam laughed, thinking Katherine was exaggerating. She looked at him, not a trace of humor in her expression.

"But isn't her son gay? She doesn't have the right to preach, not that she should in the first place."

"You think that will stop her?"

"Kath...I don't think you're giving Bree enough credit. And before you say I don't know her like you do -"

"Youdon'tknowherlikeIdo." Katherine said quickly, before he could finish his thought.

Adam pulled Katherine so that she was standing between his legs, putting his arms around her waist and locking his hands together. "Try talking to her. You said it yourself, she's been much more laid back since she started dating Orson. Maybe she'll be more understanding."

Katherine didn't say yes, but she didn't say no either. Instead, she leaned forward and put her arms around Adam's neck. He closed his arms tighter around her thin waist; he could touch his elbows when she got this close.

"How do I always end up in your lap?" asked Katherine, as she was almost on top of him yet again.

"I must have been some form of furniture in a past life."

"You are the best thing that's ever happened to me." Katherine said, suddenly growing serious.  
"That is such a coincidence," said Adam. "Because _you_ are the best thing that's ever happened to _me_."

Katherine chuckled, hugging Adam close.

"I am going to prove you wrong though. Twenty bucks says Bree does exactly what I said she would."

"You're on." said Adam.

_It's the 21st century, _he thought._ No one is that uptight anymore!_


	16. Chapter 16

Bree stopped tapping the keys on her laptop and looked at Katherine over the top of her reading glasses. They were sitting next to each other at Bree's dining room table.

"........Pardon?" Bree asked after a long pause, not sure that she heard Katherine right.

"I saaaid," Katherine began again, speaking slowly, clearly and enunciating every word. "Dylan told me she's _gay_."

She'd blurted it out just moments ago, in the middle of their latest business meeting. She didn't have the patience to ease Bree into it slowly; she needed to talk about it to her best friend _now_.

"Oh." said Bree softly, putting a supportive hand on Katherine's fore arm. "I'm so sorry, Katherine."

Katherine narrowed her eyes at Bree. She sounded so...sympathetic.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because I know how hard this is going to be for you. And you know, this sort of thing usually happens when you don't set enough limits for the child when they're younger. Rex let Andrew run wild and you see what happened with him. But you shouldn't blame yourself. I mean, Andrew had two strong influences on him, and you were a single mother for so much of Dylan's childhood."

Katherine stared at Bree. She'd predicted this conversation exactly, but it still disappointed her to hear it from Bree's mouth.

"I knew it." said Katherine.

"Knew what?"

"I knew you'd react this way. I mean, _exactly _this way."

"You do know me very well." Bree admitted.

"A little too well." said Katherine, not happy at all to win the bet she'd made with Adam.

"Katherine..." said Bree, starting to pick up on Katherine's frosty attitude. "Did I do something to offend you?"

"Yes! You shouldn't be 'sorry' that Dylan is gay. I happen to be very proud of her, and she is the one that's going to be having a hard time dealing, not me. This has nothing to do with me."  
"Katherine, there's no need to get such a bee in your bonnet over my comments. I was just expressing my sympathies-"

"Unnecessary!" Katherine interrupted and corrected her. "Unnecessary sympathies."

"Sympathies, nonetheless." said Bree, in an if-you-insist sort of tone. She cocked her head to the side, rethinking her stance. "No, not sympathy - empathy. I went through the same thing."

"I don't think it will be the same, Bree."

"And why is that?"

"Because I don't think...no, I _know _there is nothing wrong with the woman that Dylan turned out to be. It's not a choice, and it didn't happen because I let Dylan have too much candy as a child."

Bree, who had remained cool and collected throughout their exchange, stared at Katherine, who'd become a snippy, flushed mess in the span of a few minutes.

Bree patted her hand. "That's fine, dear."

Katherine made a disgusted sound. "Ugh, you are so condescending! You know, it wasn't so long ago that you were teetering on the edge of the gay fence yourself."

"What...on....EARTH do you mean by that?" said Bree, her veneer starting to crack. If there was one thing she could not tolerate it was an accusation of homosexuality.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten about our little "kiss"?" Katherine shot back, using finger quotes and an angry hiss on her last word.

Bree sighed, trying to get her superior attitude back. She went back to typing on her laptop, but not before quietly saying "That had nothing to do with being gay."

Katherine smirked, knowing she'd found a weakness.

"Well if you're not going to admit what happened between us, you should at least own up to your daughter's behavior."

"What does Danielle have to do with any of this?"

"Oh that's right, you don't know. Let me enlighten you."

Katherine scooted her chair towards Bree, pulling Bree's laptop away from her. She began to speak haltingly as she opened a web browser and typed in the address of a popular social networking site.

"It seems...Danielle...beat Dylan...to the punch."

Katherine clicked through Dylan's profile, using the same path she'd taken the first time she'd encountered Danielle's photos. Once she arrived at the photo album, she turned the computer back toward Bree.

"Two for two, Bree." Katherine taunted her. "Maybe it's genetic?"

Bree's jaw slowly dropped as she looked at the public record of Danielle's drunken escapade.

"Who put these pictures online?" Bree asked, the gears in her head already churning, trying to think of a way to manipulate and/or blackmail the perpetrator into taking the pictures down and issuing a public statement saying they were Photoshopped or otherwise faked.

"Danielle put them up." Katherine informed her, dashing Bree's hopes for a retraction.

Bree's chair scraped the floor loudly as she pushed herself away from the table. She stalked over to the staircase and started to yell. "Danielle!!! I need to see you!!"

"I'M BUSYYYY!" Danielle screamed at the top of her lungs from her room, turning up her already loud music.

Bree closed her eyes and took a deep breath before returning to the dining room. "Why did you show me those?" she asked Katherine. Bree was so quiet and calm as she said it, it almost made Katherine feel bad for gloating. Katherine had no excuse for lashing out at her best friend; in truth she was pissed at Danielle for manipulating her daughter.

"Because you're sitting there making assumptions about Dylan, telling me you're sorry when you _should _be sorry that your daughter stole a letter Dylan wrote and read it to her over the phone as a prank!"

"Excuse me??? When did this happen?"

"Yesterday afternoon, while you were getting plowed on the stairs by your selfish boyfriend."

"Katherine, he's not selfish! He came over last night and more than made it up to me."

"Really?" said Katherine, dropping her angry tone for a curious one. "Tell me about-" she stopped, realizing that Bree had changed the subject. "No, don't tell me about it! We're talking about Danielle, Dylan and Julie."

"We're talking about Julie now too? How does she fit in to all of this?"

"Well, apparently she's the love of Dylan's life! And Danielle was trying to sabotage them before Julie even knew about it!"

"No! Not Julie too?" said Bree, as if they'd all been bitten by zombies.

"No. I'm pretty sure she's still straight." said Katherine. "Which is why Dylan hasn't left the house since she told her she loved her."

Bree frowned a little as it finally occurred to her what Dylan must be going through. "The poor thing."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. It's not Dylan being a lesbian that's the horrible part. It's the unrequited love and royal fuckwittage on Danielle's part."

"...Did you just quote the Bridget Jones Diary?"

Katherine pouted. "I don't want to talk to you anymore." she said, getting up from the table.

"Katherine..." Bree said, resting her tired head in her hands as Katherine walked away. "Don't go."

Katherine stopped in the doorway of Bree's kitchen, looking back at her friend sadly.

"Why are we fighting?" asked Bree.

Katherine shrugged, not sure what to say.

"I didn't know about Danielle's prank." Bree told her.

Katherine shook her head, waving dismissively. "I know you didn't. I think maybe this whole thing is affecting me more than I thought it would."

"Will you stay?" said Bree, and held up her hand as if swearing on a bible. "I promise I won't condescend."

Katherine smiled a little then, but shook her head again. "I just...I need to go home."

Bree watched her go, then took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She was having trouble pinning down what they had actually been fighting about, and now she would have to talk to Danielle about...everything. Bree's eyes tracked slowly upward. Danielle's music was pounding away, and it occurred to Bree that she would have to cut her off from all of her precious electronics if she was going to get through to her.

Bree shut off her laptop. She wasn't going to be able to concentrate on her work anyway. She walked down to her cellar, using a flashlight to light her way so she wouldn't trip on the carefully packed boxes she used for storage. She found her fuse box and opened the cover. With one quick flip of a switch, the house went dark and silent. She waited for the horrible cry that would inevitably come from Danielle's room, smiling a little when it came.

"Danieeeelle." She called out pleasantly as she climbed the stairs to the ground floor. "Time to have a little chat."


	17. Chapter 17

Danielle stomped down the stairs, fully prepared to demand that the power be turned back on. She had no idea it had all been Bree's doing - she just thought that Bree would be able to magically fix whatever had caused the power outage.

"Have I mentioned lately," said Danielle as she turned from the bottom stairs and stalked toward the kitchen. "How much I hate this house?" She stopped when she saw Bree waiting for her, standing next to the kitchen table with her arms crossed.

"Would you care to explain these?" asked Bree.

Danielle noticed Bree's laptop then. Bree had turned it back on and used a neighbors wireless network to access Facebook again. Danielle's mouth opened, but she didn't speak. As much as she rebelled, Bree's lessons in keeping up appearances had been ingrained in her since birth, and she'd never meant for Bree to see the pictures.

"No sarcastic comment to make?" said Bree. "How refreshing."

Danielle recovered, hiding her embarassment behind her usual attitude.

"It was a fun party." she said with a shrug.

"And calling Dylan? Was that fun too?"  
"How do you know about that?...Did Dylan tell you about it? Jeez, what a cry baby."

Bree stared at Danielle, waiting for a better explanation.

"What do you want me to say?" Danielle asked. "That I feel awful, I should never have done it, and I'll never do it again?"

"That would be a good start!"  
"Well it's not going to happen. It _was _fun. It was the most fun I've had since I got back here. I know you're easily shocked but you should know me better than that by now."

"I just don't understand why you would be so cruel to those girls. I thought they were your friends?"

Danielle snorted. "Who, Dorothy and her little dog Toto? They are _not _my friends."

"Danielle!" Bree scolded her. "I raised you better than this."

"Apparently not." said Danielle under her breath, eyebrows raised as she turned on her heel and walked out of the kitchen.

"I'm not done speaking to you, Danielle!" Bree called after her.

"Go ahead and speak!" Danielle shot back. "I just won't be around to hear it." She grabbed her purse and left the house, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"When are you coming over?" asked Adam.

"I'm not coming over." said Katherine.

"Why not?" Adam asked. He could feel her pouting through the phone.

"Because you owe me twenty dollars."

"What?...Ohhh. Our bet."

"Yes, our bet. Bree did exactly what I said she would."  
"I'm sorry, hon. How did you respond?"

"...I showed her those Facebook pictures and told her about Danielle's prank."

Adam held the phone away from his face but Katherine could hear him laughing on the other end.

"Don't laugh at me!" Katherine yelled into the phone, waiting until it was back to his ear. "I feel bad about it now."

"You women don't mess around, do you?"

"I know it probably wasn't the most mature thing to do...but she was doing the haughty thing, and...anyway, I want to spend the evening with Dylan, to make sure she's okay."

"I understand. I'll miss you though."

"I'll miss you too." Katherine said softly, wishing she could be in two places at once.

They said their goodbyes, and as he set down his cell phone, Adam glanced at the jewelry box on the coffee table in his apartment. It was a very small square, the kind of box you could only fit a ring inside.

"I guess it can wait another day." he said to himself.

* * *

"Bree?" Orson called out. Bree's door had been unlocked, but he didn't find her on the first floor.

"I'll be right there!" She yelled up to him from the basement.

Orson noticed the clocks on the various appliances in Bree's kitchen turn on.

"Did your power go out?" he asked her once she'd returned to the kitchen.

"You could say that." Bree said as she returned the flashlight to its cupboard.

"Bree, is everything okay? You look...regretful."

Bree sighed, telegraphing her sadness even more than she already was.

"I think I hurt Katherine's feelings."

"Oh?"

Bree nodded.

Orson fought a smile. Bree was unbearably adorable when she was pouting.

"How did you do that?"

"Well..."

They sat down next to each other at the kitchen table. As she told the story, Bree found herself trying to spin the truth into a version where she didn't come out as the bitch, but the further she went into detail the more she realized it wasn't working. She'd almost caught up to the present, explaining why the power was off when Orson came in.

"...And when I confronted her about the pictures, she shrugged it off like everyone does that sort of thing."

Orson looked off into space and raised his eyebrows. "It does seem to be a popular trend."

"Orson, please. I've had enough drama today. I don't need you teasing me about kissing Katherine yet again."

"I'm not teasing!" Orson insisted. "But isn't it hard to demand certain behavior from your daughter when you've done the same thing?"

"Danielle is supposed to be better than I am." said Bree softly. Her self-image as a parenting failure was never far from her thoughts. "I haven't even told you about the other things she said and did..."

* * *

"She called them Dorothy and Toto?" asked Orson, grimacing as he said it. "Ouch."

"She was so cold." said Bree. "It was like looking at a stranger. Every time I try to talk to her, she pushes me away. How am I supposed to fix this if she keeps walking away from me?"

"Maybe you aren't supposed to 'fix' anything. Maybe you should listen to Danielle. Just listen to her."

Bree reached out to touch Orson's cheek.

"You always know just what to say." she said, smiling at the feeling of his face in her hand. "I bet you would have been a great father."

Orson lifted his hand to cover hers, caressing it with his thumb. "I'd settle for being a great husband."

Bree faltered. "What did you say?"

Orson chuckled, surprised at himself for letting it slip out that way.

"Bree..."

Something in the way he said it made her breath catch in her throat. Bree could tell he was about to say something very, very important.

"I can barely remember my life before I met you." said Orson. "I was just going through the motions, waiting for...well I didn't know what I was waiting for. But when Gretel Hannaford dragged me across that room to meet you, I knew then. It was you. The most beautiful and charming woman I'd ever laid eyes upon. Even when I was seeing Katherine, I knew. I was already in love with you."

Orson waited for a first reaction from Bree, but she sat silent. Her lips were slightly parted, and she looked taken aback. He decided he better keep going with his speech before he lost his nerve.

"And now I can't imagine a life without you in it. I wouldn't want to live that life, I couldn't. I want to be your husband." Orson smiled then, a bit sheepish. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "I've actually been carrying this around for two weeks, I was waiting for the right time..." He cleared his throat and opened the box hesitantly, nervous but sure.

Bree put a hand to her chest, almost afraid to look. She blinked away the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes, her gaze flitting down to the ring cradled in Orson's hand.

"Will you marry me?"

"Orson..." Bree whispered, barely able to speak. A tiny laugh bubbled its way up her throat, her happiness no longer containable. "I thought you'd never ask!" She squeaked.

Orson smiled brightly. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes!" Bree said, nodding as she leaned over to put her arms around her fiancee. Orson held her close, kissing her neck and cheek until she started to pepper his mouth with kisses herself.

"I love you..." she would whisper in the small spaces when her mouth was free. She moved onto him, sitting sideways on his lap, and their kiss deepened as she ran her hand through his thick, dark hair.

"And I'm going to love you forever." he told her. "Here..."

He reached for the ring, taking it out of the box. Bree let him take her left hand, her heart swelling as he slipped the ring onto her finger.


	18. Chapter 18

"I can't wait to tell everyone." said Bree, still sitting on Orson's lap in her kitchen.

"Why wait at all?" Orson asked happily. "I'm ready to hold a press conference."

She felt like the luckiest girl in the world, finally with someone who was as excited, happy and proud to be with her as she was with him.

"I have to call Katherine!" she said suddenly. "I hope she's not still mad at me..."

"What is it? What's the emergency?" said Katherine as soon as Bree's door started to open. Bree took her by the arm and pulled her into the foyer, closing the door behind them. Bree looked like she was about to burst, but she paused to let the drama build up even more. The barely controlled smile and her obvious joy about her surprise made Katherine smile. She couldn't help it; she'd just have to remember to be mad at her later.

"He proposed!" Bree finally announced.

Katherine gasped, and the reason that Bree closed the door became clear: Katherine let out an excited yelp so loud and high pitched Orson almost covered his ears.

"Congratulations!" she said, putting her arms around her best friend and practically jumping with excitement. "Is there a ring?" she asked slyly, polite enough not to just grab Bree's hand. "Ohhh..." she breathed when Bree lifted her hand to show her. "You have exquisite taste," Katherine told Orson. "In jewelry _and _in women." she added, giving Orson a big hug too.

"Will you stay for a while?" Bree asked her. "Our last conversation ended on a bad note, and I want to finish our talk."

"You just want to brag about your engagement." Katherine teased. "Of course I'll stay."

Bree hugged Katherine, relieved that all was forgiven. "I'll make some coffee."

* * *

During a pause in conversation they all heard the doorbell ring. Bree started to excuse herself, ever the hostess, but Orson put a hand on her arm.

"You stay here. I'll get it." said Orson.

Bree sat back down and gazed lovingly at Orson as she watched him go. When she came out of her reverie she gave Katherine a sly look. "Now we just have to get Adam to pop the question."

"Are you crazy?" said Katherine, looking at Bree as if she already had an answer. "I barely escaped my last marriage alive." she continued with a dismissive laugh.

"Katherine! Adam is not Wayne. He's so good for you."

"I know, but I don't need to be married again. It just seems...unnecessary."

* * *

Orson opened the door and found Adam on the other side.

"We're engaged!" Orson said without saying hello.

"Whoa. I like you Orson but I don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment."

"Oh, you." said Orson. Adam reached out to shake Orson's hand and congratulated him, laughing when Orson ignored his gesture and pulled him into a hug instead.

"I was looking for Katherine, Dylan said she was over here?"

"She's in the kitchen. Bree wanted to tell her in person."

* * *

"But...but..." Bree sputtered. "You don't miss it?"

"Miss what?" asked Katherine.

"The intimacy, the partnership...?"  
"The fighting, the claustrophobia? I like what I have with Adam. I have my life, he has his. A lot of the time, they overlap. It's good!"

* * *

"Don't say anything," said Adam. "But...I'm going to ask Katherine to marry me."

"That's wonderful! Just watch your ears when she tells Bree..."

* * *

"Katherine," Bree began in her chiding tone. She was a bit confused by Katherine's position on the matter, especially considering her reaction just moments ago.

"Bree-eee," Katherine mocked her in that way that friends can get away with.

"He loves you so much. Don't you love him?"

"I do. I love him more than I ever thought I would..."

* * *

Adam slowed as he approached the kitchen; he could hear them talking about him.

"...All I know is, I'm never getting married again." said Katherine.

Adam's heart sank straight to his feet. He glanced at Orson, who looked uncomfortably embarassed that Katherine's stance had only come to light as a result of Bree and Orson's engagement. Adam pulled the ring box out of his pocket, showing it to Orson and smiling sheepishly. Orson winced.

"I'm sorry, Adam."

"Can you do me a favor?" Adam said quietly.

"Of course."

"Don't tell her I stopped by."

"Adam, wait-" said Orson. "You know Katherine, she's always saying things..."

"Yeah, that Katherine and her talking." Adam replied, allowing himself a moment of selfish sarcasm before turning distractedly back toward the door. "Hey, I'll see you guys later. Again, congratulations. You and Bree...you're going to be very happy together."

As Orson was closing the door, Bree popped her head out of the kitchen.

"Who was it?"

"Oh, uh...Mormons!" Orson lied.

"Oh, how dreadful." said Bree, in a light tone and yet nothing but serious.

"Bree, I have to go." said Katherine, coming up behind her. "Thanks for letting me be the first to know. We are gonna have one hell of a party to plan, aren't we?"

* * *

"Sorry, honey." Katherine said when she got back to her house. Dylan was on the couch. Her eyes were still a little red and puffy from crying all afternoon, but she was putting on a brave smile.

"Did you see Adam?" asked Dylan.

"No, where is he?"

"He came here and I told him you were at Bree's house. He was just over there like, a second ago. Didn't you pass each other?"

"You're kidding. Oh nooooo..." Katherine whined, putting a hand to her cheek.

"What? What happened?"

"Bree was telling me her and Orson are engaged -"

"Oh my god, yay!" Dylan exclaimed. Then she saw the sorrowful look on her mother's face and stopped cheering. "Oh my god...not yay?"

"No no, it's very exciting. But then she started talking about Adam popping the question and I kind of got all anti-marriage on her. What if he overheard me?"

Katherine flopped down on the couch and put her head on Dylan's shoulder.

"Gosh...when did we get to be so pathetic?"

Dylan pretended to be offended, making a shocked sound. "Speak for yourself."

"Oh come on, be pathetic with me."

"Fine, we're pathetic." said Dylan, resting her cheek on the top of Katherine's head. "But you better say yes if he asks."

"Dylan, I just went through this with Bree. Do I really need to list all of my reasons?"

"Mom - the guy you are head over heels for is head over heels for you too. You are obligated to at least consider the opportunity that I'll never have."

"Fine. But you still have to sit and be pathetic with me for at least five more minutes."

"Deal."


	19. Chapter 19

Later that night, Katherine tried to call Adam to make sure they were okay, but she kept getting his voicemail, so she watched a funny movie with Dylan and tried not to worry about it too much...

Bree also made a phone call, to the only person she knew that could even come close to understanding Danielle.

"Hello?"

"Andrew? It's me. Are you busy?"

"Not at all, what's up?"

Bree smiled. At least she'd managed to become friends with one of her children.

"Well, I have good news and I have bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

"Which one is going to take longer to discuss?"

"The bad news."

"Then I want the good news first."

"Alright..." Bree's heart skipped a beat, the way it had been doing since Orson put the ring on her finger. She loved the way it sparkled in the light. "I'm engaged."

"Seriously?! Mom, that's great! When did this happen?"

"Just this afternoon, he proposed in the kitchen." Bree said with a laugh.

"That's awesome. You and Orson are really good together."

"Thank you, Andrew. That means a lot to me."

"So...what's the bad news?"

Bree sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about Danielle. She's getting out of control."

"Uh oh, what did she do now?"

"Andrew...is your sister a lesbian?"

Bree could hear Andrew laughing out loud on the other end of the line.

"So you saw the facebook pictures too?" he said.

"I know that people your age find that sort of thing...acceptable, especially displaying it on the internet for all to see, but that's not all. Apparently," Bree continued, trying not to let that gossipy tone affect her story. "Dylan announced to Katherine that she's gay."

"Really? Wow, good for her."

"Well not that good, since she also announced that she's in love with Julie Mayer."

"You're kidding."

"I'm afraid not."

"Why did everything exciting start to happen after I moved to New York City?"

"No one had the chance to cause a ruckus when you were still around, dear. You were too busy causing one yourself. But back to Danielle; she's been very cruel since she got home, especially to those girls. According to Katherine, she stole a letter that Dylan was writing to Julie and read it to her over the phone. And then she referred to them as Dorothy and Toto!"

Andrew laughed again. "That is classic." he declared.

"Andrew," Bree chided him. "That is not 'classic', it was rude and uncalled for."

"Come on, like you haven't said worse about the women at the country club."

"I suppose she did learn from the best."

After another hearty laugh, there was a pause on Andrew's end as he tried to figure out how to explain Danielle to their mother.

"Mom...do you remember when you told me that the opposite of love isn't hate; it's indifference?"

"I'd just thrown a bottle of wine at your head - how could I forget? To be honest, I didn't think you were listening."

"Of course I was listening. We're always listening. Well, you know, unless we're walking out on you."

An old picture caught Bree's eye as she chuckled at Andrews joke. The family portrait taken when Andrew was thirteen still sat on a shelf in the dining room. Both Andrew and Danielle had been forced to put fake smiles on their faces just so Bree would let them leave the studio. No wonder they were always angry at me, she'd realized while looking at it one day. She could see it in their eyes, just like she could now see the distance and guilt in Rex's eyes; he had already been cheating on her by the time the photo was taken.

Andrew had obviously forgiven her for those times, growing up and out of that anger, but Danielle's story was shaping up differently...

"I think Danielle sabotaged her friendship with Julie when she sensed she wasn't number one anymore." explained Andrew. "Hence the seduction of Austin."

"So you think she was in love with Julie?"

"I don't know...I wouldn't go that far. I think she's just jealous. I don't know if you've noticed, but...Danielle doesn't have many friends."

Bree sighed. She had a hurt little girl on her hands and no idea how to help her.

"How do I fix it, Andrew? I need to fix it."

"Just don't think of it as fixing Danielle. Think of it as fixing your relationship with Danielle. You need to tell her you accept her and love her no matter what, like you did for me when I finally came home. No matter who she loves and no matter what subject she wants to major in...if she ever decides on one, that is."

"I assume you heard about the dinner." Bree said wryly.

"She told me all about it, from her very unique point of view of course."

"Did she tell you about...afterwards?"

"Afterwards? What do you mean?"

"Nothing! Nothing. Thank you for this, Andrew. You've really put things in perspective."

"Any time."

"So..." said Bree, not wanting to neglect her son's life after he'd given her such sage advice. "Have you done anything exciting lately? Met anyone special?"

"I'm kind of dating my chiropractor."

"Ooh, a doctor..."

* * *

_The next evening..._

Katherine pulled into the parking lot of a very nice restaurant. It was the little French place on 5th avenue that Adam had taken her to on their first official date. He'd made reservations for dinner weeks ago, so even though he'd been avoiding Katherine's calls all day, they still had a date to see each other.

Katherine trotted over to Adam, who was waiting outside the door. "Sorry I'm late." Katherine said, almost out of breath from her race over there. "The phone conference with Gretel Hannaford took way longer than we thought it would."

"That's okay." said Adam, giving her one of his sexy half smiles that she loved so much. "You look amazing." he told her as she leaned in to kiss him hello.

There was something in his eyes that Katherine noticed right after she kissed him; he was bothered by something that he didn't want to say. Katherine knew that if it was important, he would tell her right away. It was just his nature to share what was on his mind, so Katherine tried to ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

"You don't look so bad yourself." Katherine told him, trying to keep things light. Adam opened the door for her, holding it open so she could walk in ahead of him.

"Did you lose your cell again?" she asked. "I was calling you all day but you didn't pick up."

"Uhm...I was a busy." Adam said distractedly as he looked around for the maitre d'.

Katherine's worries started to surface again. He was so distant, a stark contrast to the usual hands on affection he displayed whenever she was dressed up, and that sorry excuse for not answering her calls did nothing to soothe her anxiety.

* * *

After the waiter had come with the wine and left with their orders, Katherine smiled at Adam but he wasn't looking. He was staring at a place between his plate and his silverware. Katherine picked up her glass of wine and took a sip, waiting for Adam to notice that he was ignoring her.

It wasn't that he was ignoring her, though. It was just that he couldn't look at her again until he knew.

"Are you going to break up with me?" Adam asked out of nowhere.

Katherine slowly lowered her glass to the table, startled by such a sudden heavy question.

"What?"

Adam's eyes were smoldering, and when he raised them to look at her it was like he was looking straight into her soul.

"Are you going to break up with me?"

Katherine closed her eyes and exhaled. "You were at Bree's yesterday, weren't you?"

"Please Katherine, just tell me. I need to know."

Katherine opened her eyes and remembered where they were. It finally dawned on her exactly why Adam had chosen this restaurant.

"Were you going to propose to me tonight?" she said softly, a scary mixture of happiness and paralyzing fear waging a war in her heart.

Adam answered her question by placing a tiny box on the table next to his plate. Katherine closed her eyes again. Her hands had begun to tremble.

"Were you serious?" Adam asked her. "Or were you just shooting your mouth off?"

"I was serious." said Katherine, seeing no point in sugar-coating the truth. "I don't want to be married again, but I'm not going to break up with you, Adam. It's not like that."

"Is there something wrong with me? Is it the age thing? Am I just not marriage material?"

"There's nothing wrong with you. You're...you're perfect. Sometimes I don't know what I did to deserve you."

"Then what's the problem? If you don't want to be apart, then why can't we make it official?"

"You're thinking of this as a move toward settling down. I'm past that phase, I passed it a long time ago. I have a daughter in college for goodness' sake. This is like...my relationship retirement."

"Retirement? So I'm just your last big game of golf before you die?"

"I didn't mean it that way." said Katherine, regretting her choice of words. "We're already official, we don't need a binding legal document to prove it."

"It's not about the peice of paper, Kath. It's about being able to visit you in the hospital if you get sick. It's about...spending the rest of my life with you, and only you. Nobody else. I don't want anybody else."

"I don't want anybody else either." Katherine said softly, barely more than whisper. She pleaded with her eyes for Adam to see it from her point of view, but all she could see in his eyes was pain. He looked at her a long time without saying anything, not knowing where they could even go from here.

"It hurts when I'm not with you." he told her, laying his last card on the table. She didn't have a reply to his confession, and they both realized something awful - now it was going to hurt when he was with her too. He couldn't take any more of the sorry look she was giving him; he'd bared his soul to her too many times just to get a stubborn apology in return.

Adam put his napkin on the table and stood up.

"Adam, please don't go." Katherine begged him. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, as scared of losing him as she was of committing.  
"This is yours." Adam said coldly, placing the jewelry box gingerly next to her plate. "Wear it if you want. Or sell it. But I'm not giving it to anyone else."

Katherine turned and watched him walk out of the restaurant. She tried to blink away the tears, and she turned quickly back to the table. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she reached out for the small box. She started to cry when she opened it, finding a beautiful and unique diamond ring inside. She didn't even notice the other customers staring at her as she pulled the ring out and read what was inscribed on the inside of the band. In cursive, hugging the curve that Adam had intended to wrap around Katherine's finger that night, were engraved the words _For the one..._


	20. Chapter 20

Katherine ran to her car and drove home, sobbing all the way back to her house.

"Dylan?" she cried out pathetically when she got inside.

"You're home early...?" Dylan said, emerging from the kitchen where her dinner for one still sat out on the table. She trailed off when she saw how upset her mother was. "Mom! What's wrong? What happened?" she asked, stricken. She ran to Katherine, who held her arms out, begging for a hug.

"I...I think we broke up." Katherine choked out before dissolving back into a sobbing mess in Dylan's arms.

"Oh no..." Dylan said, hugging Katherine tighter. Katherine buried her face in Dylan's neck, her body shaking with each sob. "Shh...it's okay..." Dylan tried to comfort her.

"No, it's not!" Katherine wailed. "I fucked up, I fucked everything up!"

"How? Can you tell me what happened?"

Dylan pulled away so she could look into Katherine's eyes. She couldn't believe that they would break up so suddenly, when nothing seemed to be wrong. With a steady hand, she wiped tears and mascara off of one of Katherine's cheeks and tucked her mussed hair behind her ear.

"He was going to propose." said Katherine, wiping her other cheek in vain. The tears kept coming like a waterfall. "I didn't realize how upset he was."

"What did he say?"

"He asked me if I was serious when I said I'm never getting married again, and I said yes." Katherine started crying again. "I said yes, but it was to the wrong question!" She started crying even harder than before, harder than Dylan remembered her ever crying before. Dylan put her arms around Katherine again, but she couldn't stop her from crumpling up and falling to the floor. Dylan knelt down beside her, stroking her hair and wondering if she would ever love someone enough to be hurt like this herself.

* * *

Adam slammed his apartment door closed, throwing his keys harshly at the opposite wall. He was sick of fighting for her affection, tired of being a victim of her blind, stubborn ways and fed up with the fact that she was just too scared to fully commit to him.

He saw his phone where he'd left it on the coffee table, silent but lit up with an incoming call. For a moment he naively hoped it was Katherine calling him to say she'd changed his mind, but when he checked the caller ID, it was just someone from work. Frustrated and angry, he threw the phone with his full strength against the wall. It shattered, falling in peices to the floor.

Seeing the cracked plastic and scattered metal scraps, he suddenly realized what he'd done. He'd just tried to pressure the only woman he'd ever truly loved into a marriage she didn't want and wasn't ready for. He was the one that had been too proud and stubborn to accept her as she was, too selfish to just take what she was offering. She had given him her heart, and he had only demanded more. And now he couldn't call her to tell her he was sorry.

* * *

_The next day..._

Danielle was sitting with her feet up on the couch, channel surfing and waiting for the pizza delivery boy to show up. When the doorbell rang, she jumped up, excited to see if Paulo still delivered the pizza for the area.

"It's about damn time-" she started to say as she swung the door open, but she froze when she saw Julie. Her arms were crossed and she looked like she meant business.

"I want the letter." said Julie.

"Aw, I threw it away." Danielle said as if to a child.

"Bullshit. You are way too obsessed with my life to put the find of the century in a garbage can. I mean, that's where you found it, right? Digging through Dylan's trash?"

"Wow, I can't believe she told you. She ran straight to her mommy to tell on me too. Can't she fight her own battles?"

"Enough, Danielle. I'm not going to ask you again."

"What if I don't? What are you going to do?"

Julie stimply stared at Danielle, waiting for the inevitable.

"Fine!" said Danielle. Julie knew too much about her falsified high school transcript to be goaded this far. "I was getting bored with it anyway."

Julie smirked and waited on the doorstep while Danielle went to get the letter. She just happened to glance across the street as Dylan and Katherine were leaving their house. Dylan turned, and they made eye contact for a brief moment before Dylan hurried into Katherine's car. Katherine smiled at Julie, looking a bit sad, and gave her a little wave.

"Are you okay Dylan?" Katherine asked as she climbed into the drivers seat.

"I'm fine." said Dylan, slouching in her seat until she could barely see out the window. "Let's get out of here."

"It's hard to avoid each other when you live on the same street, huh?"

"Just drive."

Julie watched Katherine's car drive by. Dylan turned to look at her as they passed; her eyes were haunted. They hadn't spoken since they'd last seen each other, and Julie wondered if they would ever be able to be friends again.

"Here." Danielle said sharply. She appeared at the door again, wondering what the hell was distracting Julie so much. Danielle hated being ignored.

Julie turned slowly toward her and plucked the paper out of her outstretched hand. Without another word, she walked away.

"You're welcome!" Danielle shouted, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

In her test kitchen, Bree hurriedly dialed Katherine's cell number. Katherine picked up on the second ring, and it sounded like she was using the speaker phone in a car.

"Hi, Bree." she said, sounding a little sheepish.

"Katherine, where are you?"

"Didn't you get my message?"

"The one about cancelling our meeting because you were taking Dylan on a day trip? Yes, but I thought I could stop you before you left."

"Bree, we both _really _needed to get away."

Bree noted the seriousness in Katherine's voice. Bree knew she was a professional woman, and didn't cancel plans for silly reasons.

"Did something happen?" Bree asked, now concerned only with the safety and well being of her friend.

"I'll tell you when I get back, okay?" said Katherine. She didn't have it in her to talk about turning down Adam's proposal with the woman who had actually put a ring on her finger.

"Well...alright." said Bree, clearly disappointed that Katherine couldn't confide in her as a friend. "Take care of yourselves."

"We will, Bree. Thank you."

When the line disconnected, Dylan looked at Katherine.

"A day trip?" Dylan repeated, sounding skeptical. "She thinks we're only going to be gone for the day?"

"She'll understand."

"I can't believe we're spending my break running away from home." said Dylan, chuckling sadly.

"See, I told you: we're pathetic." Katherine joked, though neither of them really felt like laughing just yet. Katherine took a deep breath and sighed. "Sometimes...you just need a break from life. And we need one, big time."

"I'm sorry, Mom."

Katherine stole a glance at Dylan, who was staring out the window at the passing scenery.

"What for?"

"I'm sorry you and Adam are going through a rough patch."

"Me too. But I think it's more than a rough patch. It feels more like a Grand Canyon."

"Nah," said Dylan, resting her head against the window pane. "He'll come around."

Katherine turned to Dylan, briefly, so she wouldn't lose sight of the road for too long.

"You sound so sure." said Katherine.

"He's in love." said Dylan. "He'd do anything for you."

"Oh, sweetie..."

* * *

"Bree? Bree!" Adam shouted from his car as he screeched to a halt in front of Bree's house. She was just stepping out the door

"Oh, hi Adam!" Bree greeted him cheerily.

"Where's Katherine?" he asked without replying first.

"I, I don't know." Bree stammered, caught off guard by his urgency. "I just called her, she was on the road."

"Where? Where is she going?"

"I don't know, Adam. Is something wrong?"

"I'm an idiot." Adam said, mostly to himself. "God, I'm an idiot." He finally noticed Bree staring at him, trying to keep her mouth closed.

"We had a fight."

"Oh..."

"I was going to propose," Adam continued. Bree's face lit up.

"Oh!" she said, feeling a rush of excitement for a moment before she realized the implications. "Oh. Did she...?"

"Turn me down? She didn't get the chance. I attacked her before it even came up. I overheard her talking to you about marriage the other day,"

"Oh, dear."

"And I accused her of wanting to break up with me. I ended up storming out of the restaurant."

"The little French place on 5th avenue?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, your first date. That's so romantic, Adam."

"It was supposed to be, but I ruined everything."

* * *

"Mom, you should call him. You both probably got caught up in the moment, and said things that you didn't mean. He's probably feeling just as lost as you are right now."

Katherine's heart jumped at the very thought.

"You think so? Am I just being silly?"

* * *

"Have you tried calling her?" asked Bree.

"I...kind of destroyed my phone." Adam said sheepishly. "That's the only place I have her number stored, and she's not listed in the phone book ever since Wayne..."

Bree nodded knowingly. "Right. You can use my phone if you like."

"That would be amazing." Adam said, relieved beyond measure.

* * *

Katherine pulled into the parking lot of a rest stop on the highway, bolstered by the small feeling of confidence Dylan had inspired in her.

"You're right, I'm being silly. I'll call him."

At the same time Katherine was dialing Adam's number, Adam was dialing hers. Since Katherine's line was busy, and Adam's phone was dead, they were both sent straight to voicemail.

_Hello, you have reached Katherine - well, almost. Sorry I missed you! Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can._

"She didn't pick up." Adam said, all hope gone from his voice.

"Adam, I think she just needed to be alone for a while, to gather her thoughts and all that. She'll come back and you can talk things out then, and everything will be fine. I'm sure of it."

_Hey, this is Adam. Leave your name and number at the beep._

Dylan could tell from the look on Katherine's face that she hadn't gotten through.

"It didn't even ring." Katherine said. "I guess he wasn't waiting for my call."

Katherine shut off her phone completely, and tossed it in the back.

"Okay. No more distractions. It's just you, me and the open road, kiddo. You ready?"


	21. Chapter 21

"Orson..." Bree said softly.

"Yes, darling?"

"Where do you want live when we're married?"

Bree lifted her head from Orson's chest. She was laying next to him on her bed, snuggled up to his side and enjoying the feeling of his arm around her shoulders. Looking into his eyes, her heart went fuzzy and she leaned up to kiss him like it was a reflex.

"Mm. Anywhere you want." he answered her. It was hard not to offer her the world when she kissed him like that.

"Would you want to live here? In this house?"

"Of course. Why not?"

"I don't know." Bree said with a tiny shrug, which Orson only noticed because he felt it with his arm. She laid her head back down on his chest. "This house has a lot of history. It's like the stage to my past life."

"Isn't there a place in it for the future?"

Bree closed her eyes and smiled. "I suppose."

Orson squeezed her shoulders once, rubbing her back gently.

"Is there anything else on your mind?" he asked her. He felt her shoulders rise as she took a deep breath. She seemed reluctant to leave his embrace, but she sat up, scooting closer to him so his arm was around her waist instead.

"I'm worried about Katherine." said Bree. "She said she was just going to be gone for the day but she isn't back yet and she won't answer her phone."

"Hmm..." said Orson. "You said she had a fight with Adam?"

"Yes, though I didn't hear it from her. Adam told me. I think maybe Katherine didn't want to talk to me about it because we just got engaged."

"It's not your fault." Orson told her, reading her mind. Bree made a pitiful face. She felt awful that such happy news had had a negative effect on her friends relationship.

"Really?" Bree asked, feeling like a little girl.

"It would have come up eventually. He already had it all planned out, so she was going to have to tell him some time."

"You don't think Katherine would have acted differently if it was a surprise? If she hadn't had time to think about it beforehand?"

"This wasn't a driveby, Bree. It's a major life decision. One that, thankfully, _we _were both ready for at the same time."

"Oh, I think I was ready after our first date."

Orson chuckled. "Me too. Even after you shoved me off your porch."

Bree made the sound an exclamation point would make, nudging Orson in the ribs with her elbow.

"See? You're doing it again."

"Oh, Orson." Bree sighed, settling back down beside him. "We're so lucky. I just hope Katherine and Adam can work things out. I love them both so much, and I love them together." Bree rested her head on Orson's chest again. Her face scrunched up just a bit as she thought of another very important reason that she wanted them to get over their problems.

"And I won't be able to plan our engagement party if Katherine is going to be depressed all the time."

* * *

It was their second night away, and Katherine still couldn't sleep. She kept imagining Adam's arms around her, and in her fantasy he told her that everything she did was right and everything was going to be okay. It was a selfish fantasy that almost made her laugh, save for how sad it made her that it wasn't happening right now.

In the middle of the night, Katherine sat straight up in bed. She'd been hit by a sudden realization that her fantasy could be a reality if she stopped being so stubborn.

"I have to fight for him." she said.

Dylan stirred beside her. "Mmwhat?"

"Dylan, we have to go back."

"...Now?" Dylan said, lifting her head and squinting at her mother's moon-lit sillhouette.

"Dylan, please!" Katherine begged her desperately, hopping out of bed and stuffing all of their belongings into her bag. "Adam has no idea how much I really love him and if I go another minute of my life without telling him I don't know what I'm going to do. If we leave now we could make it back to Fairview by the morning and I might be able to catch him before he goes to work."

"Okay." said Dylan, climbing out of bed in a daze.

"Is it?" Katherine asked. She stopped bustling and looked at her sleepy daughter, who didn't even seem to realize what was going on around her. "I brought us out here so we could pal around and figure things out..."

Dylan smiled, chuckling a little. "I just came along because I thought _you _needed time away."

Katherine smiled, grateful, embarassed, and happy to have such a good daughter all at the same time. "Then pack as fast as you can!" she pleaded.

Even in her panicked state, Katherine was still meticulous enough to do a mental inventory of their things before they left. She could account for everything except for one particular item.

"Oh, my phone..."

She looked in her purse, then patted each of her coat and pants pockets.

"Oh my god, my phone!"

Dylan had just finished throwing the rest of her things in her backpack.

"I think you left it in the back seat."

* * *

Katherine ran to her car and got her phone, opening it and pressing the power button.

"Come ooon, come on come on come on come on...UGH, why do these things take so long to wake up?! Here, take it. Check to see if I have any messages."

Katherine tossed the phone to Dylan, who was barely able to catch it in time. Katherine ran around to the driver's side, hopping in and turning on the car.

"Buckle, buckle, everybody buckle! You ready?"

Dylan nodded as her seatbelt connected, and tires squealed.

"Oh my god..." Dylan said, pleasantly shocked. "You have 32 voicemail messages."

"...What?" said Katherine, suddenly feeling like she was floating.

"And over a hundred missed calls."

"Are they all from Adam?"

"Basically. There are a few from Bree, but...yeah, mostly Adam. Do you want me to drive so you can call him?"

"I...no. No, I know he's waiting for me now. I just have to get to him."

* * *

When they got to Wisteria Lane, Dylan jumped out of the car with her duffel bag, wishing her mother good luck before Katherine sped off to find her man. When Katherine finally got to his door, she wasted no time knocking politely; she started pounding on the door with her fist, shouting his name.

"Adam? Adam, it's me, please open up! I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have run away but I thought I needed time to think, and...and I'm done thinking! I just want to be with you, I don't care what I have to do, as long as we're together!"

She heard fast, heavy footsteps running toward the door. The door swung open and they froze for just a second, looking at each other like they'd both just come back from the dead. He was in a t-shirt, sweatpants and bare feet, clean shaven but disheveled, and equally as sleep-deprived as she had been since they last saw each other.

"Katherine." Adam said, but all he could do after that was take her face in his hands and kiss her passionately. Katherine wrapped her arms around his neck, but no matter how hard they pressed, they still couldn't get close enough. She hopped, lifting her feet off the ground, and Adam caught her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He pressed her against the wall inside his apartment, taking his lips away just so he could take in the sight of her again and make sure she was really there.

"I missed you so much." she said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Adam ordered, kissing her neck and taking in the scent of her skin. "You didn't do anything wrong, it was me."

"It doesn't matter." Katherine told him, pushing his head back up so he could look into her eyes. "Nothing matters except being together."

"For a while there I thought I wasn't going to see you again." Adam admitted. "I thought maybe you'd run away for good." He lowered her body just enough so that she was resting on the table beside the door, but she kept her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, not wanting him to move away from her at all.

Katherine shook her head, smiling. "No. I only do that when someone's trying to kill me."

The absurd, inappropriate joke made them both laugh, but Katherine quickly grew serious again.

"Make love to me." she said, taking her shirt off in one smooth movement. "I need to feel you."

She put one hand on the back of Adam's head, pulling him into another hungry kiss, using her other hand to reach behind her back and unclasp her bra. "Please..." she begged him, though there was no need. He pressed himself against her, and she could feel the physical response between his legs before he could answer verbally.

"I need to feel you inside of me..." Katherine whispered. He pulled his shirt quickly over his head, tossing it to the side before he pulled the straps of her bra down and tossed that to the side as well. With one arm around her waist and one around her neck, Adam pulled her closer, squeezing her as they devoured each other's mouths like it was their first and last time together. Katherine reached between them to undo the button at her waist, and then she put her hands flat on the table, lifting herself up so Adam could peel her tight jeans off.

"Take it off. Take your pants off." she uttered. He picked her up from the table and slammed the front door shut on their way down to the floor. When he had her on her back, she pushed the waistband of his pants down, using her feet to get them the rest of the way down. She allowed him to hover over her just long enough to shake his feet free of the clothing, and then pulled him down on top of her so that no part of their bodies weren't touching.

"Oh god...I need you inside of me..." Katherine told him again, tracing a line up his calves with her toes. "I need you."

She shivered as Adam ran his open mouth along her collar bone, already close to tears from the emotion and the pleasure. "Please-" she started to beg again, but she interrupted herself with a low whimper as he entered her. She relaxed her thighs, letting him fill her up, and they laid still like that for a full minute. A tear fell down Katherine's cheek, and she couldn't hide it when Adam kissed her cheek and tasted the salt.

"Katherine..." he said gently, looking into her eyes. "I don't want you to cry anymore."

"I'm crying because I'm happy." she said, smiling.

"I love you." they both said at the same time. They'd said it before, but never while making love.

Adam slowly began to move his hips against Katherine's.

"Is that good?" he asked her, though he could tell by her sighs and the way she squeezed her thighs together every so often that it was just fine.

"It's perfect." she told him anyway.

"You're so beautiful..." said Adam, kissing her softly on the lips as he pressed into her gently again and again. It was the sweetest gesture, but it made Katherine feel even hotter.

She started to squeeze her thighs more frequently, until she was squeezing so hard Adam thought he was going to split in half from the pressure. She started to shake, and she hugged Adam tight, feeling closer to him than she'd ever felt inside or out. She cried out once, her back arched, and then again, her body writhing underneath him, but it was her third orgasm that made Adam come inside of her.

After catching his breath, Adam rested the weight of his upper body on one arm so he could put a finger to Katherine's cheek. He gently wiped the tears off her cheek, leaning down to kiss the tears that had run down past her ears to her neck. She couldn't stop trembling, so she turned on her side and pulled Adam's arm around her. They curled up beside each other and laid there until Katherine's body stilled.

"This is it," Adam whispered in her ear. "This is all I need."

"Are you sure?" Katherine whispered back.

"I'm positive."

Eventually, they moved to the bed, where they passed out exhausted and slept the rest of the day. Dylan would have called to make sure Katherine was okay, but...her inbox was completely full. That, and she'd left her phone in the car again.


	22. Chapter 22

Bree heard the door to the test kitchen opening, and she looked up from her books. Katherine stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind her.

"You're back." said Bree with a hopeful smile.

Katherine smiled back. She was in a wonderful mood, and seeing Bree sitting at her desk, looking absolutely adorable in glasses and a ponytail, made her feel even better.

"I'm back." Katherine confirmed.

Bree took off her glasses and studied Katherine's demeanor. There was a distracted element to the smile that kept playing on Katherine's lips, as if she were constantly remembering something that made her happy.

"And you look..." Bree began, searching for the perfect word.

"Content?" said Katherine.

Bree's smile widened. "As a matter of fact, yes. Content. I take it you and Adam are still together."

"_Oh yeah_." Katherine mouthed, causing Bree to giggle.

"I didn't see your car when I got the mail this morning." Bree said suggestively. "Did you spend the night at his place?"

Katherine nodded, that smile creeping up again.

"We did it right there on the floor, right inside the door."

"Oh, my goodness. Was the door open?!"

"Closed."

"Oh." Bree let out a breath, relieved. "Still, it sounds like it was...urgent."

"It was. But...it was beautiful too." Katherine sat down across from Bree, on the opposite side of Bree's desk. She rested her chin in her hand and let her gaze wander to nothing but her own thoughts. "I'm not afraid anymore." she said. "I don't know why or how, but I'm not."

"It's wonderful to hear you say that." said Bree. "Does that mean that you two are...?"

"Engaged? No, not yet. But I'm not going to say never."

"Did you keep the ring?"

"I did. I had to. It says I'm the one."

"Then you just tell me the second you put it on."

"I will." Katherine said with a smile. She stood up. "I'm going to get to work."

"Good. We're a little behind since someone decided to take a vacation without giving me any notice."

Katherine turned back around. Bree's glasses were back on her face, and her nose was back in her books. Bree slowly looked up, her eyebrows raised above the rim of her glasses.

"That bread's not going to make itself." Bree reminded her.

Katherine narrowed her eyes, but by the time she'd walked over to Bree and leaned down to hug her, she had a grin on her face.

"Oh!" said Bree, taken by surprise.

"I love you, Bree."

"Ohh," Bree cooed, hugging back. "I love you too. Now get to work." she added.

* * *

_The next day..._

Katherine had just finished cleaning her house when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Julie, hi!" Katherine greeted the visitor, sounding like she was very surprised to see her.

"Hi, Mrs. Mayfair."

"Oh you're a grown woman now, you can call me Katherine." Katherine glanced behind her, not sure how to go about turning her away. "Um...Dylan's feeling a little under the weather, so-"

"Mom." said Dylan.

Katherine turned and saw her at the top of the stairs.

"It's okay." Dylan told her mom, and then she looked at Julie. "Do you want to come up?"

* * *

Julie sat down in Dylan's desk chair, and Dylan dropped onto her bed.

"Where did you guys go?" said Julie, referring to the trip that Dylan and Katherine took.

"San Diego. We saw Shamu at Sea World."

"Aw, you always wanted to go there."

"Yeah."

"I would have come over sooner, or called, but...I didn't know what to say."

"It's okay, Julie. I shouldn't have kissed you, it was stupid."

"No, it wasn't. It was really sweet. You told me this...huge thing, and I just stared at you like an idiot."

Dylan half smiled, shaking her head.

"Dylan...I read your letter."

Dylan's cheeks went red. Having Danielle read it had been bad enough.

"Don't be embarassed. It was beautiful. It made me cry. You're a good friend too, and I'm so flattered that you would even think of me that way."

Dylan felt a big 'but' coming. She'd come to terms with the fact that they would never be together in the way that she wanted, and she appreciated that Julie had been brave enough to talk to her about it.

"I'm not a lesbian." Julie finally went on. "So I can't promise you anything after break, but..."

Julie hesitated. She got up and sat next to Dylan on her bed, and Dylan wondered if she even knew what it did to her to have her this close.

"...I want to be with you, Dylan. Before we go back to school, I at least want to give you that much."

Dylan swallowed, trying to process what Julie had just said. ..._**Be **__with her?_

"Julie, if you mean what I think you mean...you don't have to do that. I'll get over you someday, and maybe we can be friends again-"

"I'm still your best friend, Dylan. And I want your first time to be special. I want it to be with someone you can trust. My first time turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I want to show you what it's like to be with someone that loves you."

"I...I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." said Julie. Julie moved her hand, resting it lightly on Dylan's.

Dylan looked down at their hands, nervous at even the slightest touch from her dream girl.

"You mean...right now??" asked Dylan, eyes wide.

"Yes...I mean, unless you don't want -" Julie started to backpedal in her own nervousness.

"No no, I definitely want- I mean, I'd love to! It's all I've been thinking about since you let me spend the night." Dylan admitted, feeling her cheeks turn red again at her confession.

Julie smiled again. "It's okay."

"As long as we're being honest...I just want to say that you have an amazing rack." Dylan blurted out.

Julie laughed out loud. Hearing those words coming out of Dylan's mouth was a surprise, though a pleasant one.

"Thanks." said Julie, flattered. "...Do you want to touch them?" she asked, knowing that Dylan was too shy to make the first move.

Dylan's heart nearly stopped again. _I must be dreaming..._

"Really?"

Julie smiled shyly. "Yeah." she said quietly, scooting closer to Dylan.

Dylan slowly put her hands to Julie's waist, slipping them underneath her t-shirt. She moved upward, temporarily blocked by a padded bra. Biting her lip, she moved to the back and fumbled with the clasp.

"First, I must free them." she murmured, making Julie laugh nervously. It was much harder to unclasp it from this angle, and she was afraid the awkward moment would make Julie change her mind. Instead, Julie offered to help.

"Here..." said Julie, reaching both hands behind her back and undoing the clasp in less than a second. She pulled the straps from under her t-shirt sleeve, pulling them down and around her arms so she could pull the bra itself out of the top of the shirt. Dylan sat back to give Julie room to do this, placing her hands politely in her lap. Once she'd tossed her bra aside, Julie took Dylan's hands and placed them gently on either side of her rib cage. Dylan looked up at Julie, who was smiling encouragingly.

_Will she like it? Will things ever be the same if I do this? I can't believe she's actually letting me...!_She slipped her hands under Julie's shirt again, feeling a wave of heat go through her when her hands found Julie's breasts.

"Does that feel good?" Dylan asked as she slowly massaged them.

"Very." said Julie, breathless as she leaned back and let her eyes flutter closed.

"What else should I do?"

"Just..mm...do what you think will feel good. What would you want?"

"I...I'd want you to kiss me."

"Then kiss me." Julie suggested, managing to make it sound sweet and sexy at the same time.

Dylan took her hands back and leaned down on her side next to Julie. She laid a soft kiss on Julie's lips, then another. Julie was so responsive to what she was doing, so even though Dylan was still a little nervous, her confidence was increasing. She put one of her hands back up Julie's shirt, squeezing harder than before, and kissed her again. This time she held her lips longer. Her tongue darted out to taste Julie's lips, and to her pleasant surprise Julie responded quickly. Feeling Julie's tongue as she kissed her back made Dylan feel like she was flying. After a few rapturously intense moments of making out, Dylan moved her hand down to Julie's waist and hips, caressing her everywhere she could reach...

* * *

_That same day, in the test kitchen..._

Katherine was just beginning to stir a batch of cake frosting when she noticed she was missing a button on her sleeve.

"Shoot." she muttered, causing Bree to turn from her flower arrangement.

"Something wrong?" Bree asked.

"I lost a button." Katherine said, looking around the counter and on the floor in case it was close by.

"Oh dear. Do you have a spare?"

Katherine pouted. "In my sewing kit, which is in my dresser. I just started this mix..."

"Let me get it." Bree offered.

"You don't have to do that."

"I know it will bother you until it's fixed." said Bree, already headed for the door. "By the time I get back you'll be able to take a break and I'll sew it on for you. It won't take five minutes."

* * *

_Meanwhile in Dylan's bedroom:_

Dylan lifted her head from between Julie's legs. She was kneeling on the floor next to her bed, and she was pretty sure that Julie had just had an orgasm.

"Was that good?" Dylan asked, hope in her eyes.

Julie grinned at her. "That was...I mean...just, wow." she said, words failing her.

Dylan giggled. "Good!" She bit her lip, getting shy again. "Your body is amazing. And...you taste really good."

"Thanks. Come here..."

Dylan crawled onto the bed, laying down next to Julie, and they wrapped their arms around each other, snuggling under a warm, fluffy blanket.

"Thank you." Dylan whispered.

"You're welcome." Julie kissed her lips. "But I haven't even done anything for you yet."

Dylan felt Julie running her hand along her thigh, playing with the waist of her jeans. Dylan was still fully dressed, while Julie was naked from the waist down with only her t-shirt on.

"Julie, wait. Doing that for you, that was amazing, and I'm really glad that you liked it, but you don't have to do anything for me. Just letting me...do that stuff, I'm so grateful."

"I was serious, Dylan: I want to show you what it's like to be with someone that loves you."

Dylan gulped, but Julie smiled reassuringly.

"You just gave me something amazing, and you expected nothing in return. That's why you deserve so much more. Plus...I'm pretty sure you just turned me bi."

They both giggled. Dylan was so proud, her confidence had skyrocketed when she realized she was naturally talented at pleasing another girl.

* * *

Bree let herself into Katherine's house, climbing the stairs at a brisk but ladylike pace. She walked toward the master bedroom on the second floor, glancing into Dylan's room as she passed it. She froze on the other side of Dylan's door, wondering if she'd really seen what she thought she'd just seen. She took a slow step backward, peeking through the small crack. Sure enough, Dylan and Julie were snuggled under a blanket on Dylan's bed. At first it looked like they were just sleeping, which Bree could have reconciled, but after peering at the forms on the bed, Bree realized they were sharing a kiss; a passionate, open-mouthed, tongues-down-each-others-throats kiss.

"Oh!" Bree whispered, jumping away from the opening. "Oh, dear lord."

It almost struck her then, seeing them together like that, that two people of the same gender could be just as good together as a boy and a girl. Two girls that had known each other almost their entire lives had grown up and found a new way to express their love for each other; there couldn't be anything wrong with something so beautiful. It still left Bree completely bewildered, however.

Bree came back to the test kitchen, and Katherine hurried to take the button she'd found out of her mouth.

"It fell in the frosting." Katherine explained sheepishly. She noticed that Bree was empty handed.

"Did you find the sewing kit?"

"No." Bree said distractedly. Her brow was furrowed, and she looked deep in thought. "I just saw Dylan and Julie together."

"Yeah, Julie stopped by the house right before I came over."

"No, Katherine. I mean..._together_."

Katherine's eyes slowly widened. "Wh-...Dylan? My Dylan?"

Bree nodded.

"With Julie? Susan's Julie?"

Bree nodded again, eyebrows raised for emphasis.

"But I thought...she...they..." Katherine shook her head. "Huh. What were they doing?"

"Well, they were curled up next to each other on Dylan's bed. I just happened to glance in as I was going to your room. When I looked again, there seemed to be some clothes on the floor and...they were kissing."

"Well...this is quite the shocking development."

* * *

"Boy, I'd say." said Orson after hearing the same story.

"It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would." Bree remarked. "Ooh, how about this one?"

Bree took a plate down from a large store display. She and Orson were out shopping for a new set of china to put on their wedding gift registry.

"I like it." Orson said non-commitally. "It's a bit too understated though. I want our fancy plates to match my fancy lady."

Bree smiled as she gazed at her fiancee. She loved that he actually took the time to think about each selection, and that he wasn't just along for the ride. He had good taste, and he looked so handsome picking out flatware, she wanted to take a bite right out of his neck. In fact, she was getting quite turned on just watching him shop.

"Orson, darling..." she said, trying to get his attention.

"Yes, dear?" he said, continuing to study the patterns in front of them.

"We could come back another time."

"Yes," Orson sighed, "But we're out already, we might as well get an idea of what we're looking for."

"But, Orson?"

"Yes, dear?"

"There are things at home that we should probably tend to."

"Hm? Like what?" asked Orson.

"Me."

"Hmwhat?" said Orson, finally turning to look at Bree. Her eyebrows were raised, and the look on her face said pretty please. "Oh!" he said, realizing what she was asking. He smiled and took her hand in his. "Of course."

* * *

Bree and Orson hurried home, dashing through the door. In her blind rush, Bree forgot there was a mess of cardboard boxes just inside the house. They were full of Orson's things, as he was in the process of moving into her house. She tripped on one of the boxes, and caught Orson's arm to keep from falling over.

"Whoa! Sorry about that." said Orson. "I'll clean those up later."

Bree froze. He'd just said something that she'd never in her life heard come out of a man's mouth. Seeing her reaction, which was still a mystery to him, Orson froze too, wondering what he'd done.

"...What did you say?" asked Bree.

"I said I'll clean-"

"Stop!" Bree put her hand up. "Stop right there."

"Did I say something wrong?"

Bree shook her head, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply. Their lips parted, and Bree looked up at him with eyes full of love.

"I can't wait to be married to you." she said.

Orson smiled. "I'll clean the whole house if it will make you that happy."

Bree felt like she was having a hot flash.

"My god, you're perfect." she breathed, before pulling him toward her again and molesting his mouth with unparalleled passion.


	23. Chapter 23

Back in the test kitchen the next day, Bree was idly wondering what made a girl a lesbian, and wondering what would tip a girl off to the fact, since all Bree ever dreamed about as a girl was meeting a man that would sweep her off her feet. But that was back when she took anatomy lessons from her Barbies; reality had crept up on her and no matter what she'd been taught her whole life, lesbians really did exist and she wanted to understand them, especially if her best friend's daughter was going to need support. Bree glanced up at Katherine, who was chopping some vegetables, and Katherine smiled back at her.

Against her better judgement, Bree then started to wonder how lesbians had sex with each other. She'd always thought of males and females as having a natural, interlocking system for making babies, and at first it was difficult for Bree to imagine what two women would do to each other, even though she and Orson did all _sorts _of non-intercourse things together. Kissing...touching...licking...

Bree's eyes went wide when she realized where her mind was going. She glanced up at Katherine again, hoping she hadn't noticed. Katherine was looking back at her with a curious expression.

"What's goin' on?" Katherine asked, curiously amused.

"Nothing!" Bree squeaked. "Heh heh." She tried to go back to her work, but it was too late. The two faceless women in her wild imaginings were suddenly replaced by herself and Katherine, and try as she might she couldn't shake the image of lying down next to her friend, both of them naked and...doing things...

Bree forced herself to chuckle, though it came out sounding bitter. "Ohhh, Bree." she scolded herself. "Bree Bree Bree..."

Katherine furrowed her eyebrows. "Bree?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you talking to yourself?"

"What? Of course not."

"Yeah, you were. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Bree insisted. "Are _you _okay?"

"Just peachy." Katherine said sarcastically. She put down the knife she was using and sidled over to Bree's desk.

"Can I help you?" Bree said when Katherine just stood there, looking at her.

"Were you thinking about Dylan and Julie?" asked Katherine.

Bree smiled innocently and shook her head as if she had no idea what Katherine was talking about.

"Were you thinking about..." Katherine continued. "Lesbians in general?"

Bree cleared her throat, shuffling the papers on her desk.

"Were you thinking about lesbians.......having sex?"

Bree laid her hands flat on the papers in a passively frustrated gesture.

"I was just..."

"Curious?" supplied Katherine.

Bree pursed her lips. "In a purely scientific way."

"Sorry, Bree. There's nothing scientific about sex." Katherine said this in an airy way just to make Bree more flustered than she already was. "Let me guess. You were wondering what lesbians 'do' with each other."

Bree sighed, trying to ignore her.

"It's perfectly natural to be curious, Bree."  
"Not for meee." sang Bree, signing a document with a harsh flair.

"Uh, yes for you." Katherine argued simply. She sat on the corner of Bree's desk and watched Bree pretend to read another contract.

"So," Katherine chirped. "You wanna make out?"

Bree stood up, inhaling deeply. "I'm going to go see what Orson wants for dinner." she said matter-of-factly. She walked around her desk, pretending not to hear Katherine's laughter.

"Chicken! Don't run away." Katherine teased her. Bree gave her a look, but she did stop.

"You're not going to become a lesbian just by thinking about it." Katherine assured her.

"That would be so comforting, if I was actually afraid of such a thing."

"Aren't you? You treat it like an infectious disease."

Bree looked hurt. "Do I?"

Katherine smiled; Bree was so cute when she was confused.

"Not really. Not anymore, anyway." Katherine admitted. "Hey, I'm sorry for teasing you, I know it makes you uncomfortable."

"I don't want it to. I don't want you to think I see your daughter as some diseased freak."

Katherine giggled. "I don't think that."

"Good."

"Now come back, and...do your paperwork or whatever you were doing to avoid real work."

"I was not avoiding real work! Ugh, what I wouldn't do to trade places with you, but there's always all this _stuff _that needs my signature."

"I can do that stuff for you, you know. I know everything that goes on with the business. I can forge your signature, and anything I'm not sure about, I'll just ask. Let's switch!"

"Well....alright." said Bree hesitantly.

Katherine plucked the glasses from her head and put them on herself.

"Hm," she said, looking around the room. "Your vision isn't so bad."

"Yes, they're just to keep the words from getting fuzzy."

"Hey," said Katherine, sitting at Bree's desk. "I was thinking of making dinner for you and Orson."

"You don't have to do that."  
"I know I don't, that's why it's called a gift, silly. We can do it this weekend, it'll be fun. Or if you feel too weird about enslaving me, I can invite Adam and we can do a double date sort of thing."

"I'd like that."

"Cool." said Katherine with a perky grin. Then she raised her eyebrows and did her best all-business Bree impression. "Now get to work."

* * *

_A little later..._

"Why isn't this workinnng..." Katherine murmured. Her pie refused to set.

"I told you not to answer the phone while you were stirring..."

Katherine rolled her eyes just as Dylan and Julie let themselves in.

"Mom!" Dylan said, eyes wide and grinning. "Have you listened to these messages yet?"

Katherine looked at her daughter with disbelief. "Dylan...why do you have my phone?"

Dylan smiled sheepishly. "I wanted Julie to hear them."

"Hear what?" Bree said, looking up from her paperwork with a curious smile.

"Ohhh my god, Mrs. Van de Kamp, you are going to die." Dylan carried the phone over to Bree's desk and pressed one of the buttons. Adam's voice came to life over speaker phone.

_Kaaaath_... he groaned. _Please. Please. Please. Call me._

Bree's face scrunched up into a pained 'aw' face.

Katherine blushed a little in spite of herself. "We don't have to listen to them right now, do we?"

Bree and Dylan ignored her, watching the phone as if it were spitting out winning lottery numbers.

_Next message._ the phone chirped.

_Alright, it is nowww...1:30 in the morning,_ Adam said, already sounding exhausted. _I'm going to stay up all night, so if you want to call, don't let the time stop you. I mean, even if I fall asleep I'll hear the phone so...don't hesitate. Okay.....okay. Bye._

Bree and Dylan aw'd together.

"That is too precious!" said Bree.

"I knooow!" Dylan squealed. "And there are like, 30 more. They get better."

Julie smiled sympathetically at Katherine, who was very clearly embarassed.

"My daughter, the romantic." said Katherine wryly. "So much for privacy." She looked at Julie then, who was laughing at Dylan's exaggerated reactions to each message. Katherine had noticed the little perk in Dylan's step the last few days, and she and Julie had become inseperable. Bree hadn't been mistaken; something had definitely happened between them. Katherine had not talked to Dylan about it, not wanting to overstep her bounds or ruin a good temporary thing if that's what this was. In the back of her mind, Katherine worried about what would happen with them when they went back to school, and whether Julie or Dylan had thought that far ahead.

Two girlish gasps interrupted Katherine's thoughts.

"Was that the one where he says he'd die for me?" Katherine said dryly.

Bree, speechless with a happily stricken expression on her face, nodded slowly.

Katherine finally relented, smiling and jogging over to Bree's desk.

"That was my favorite! Play it again."

_Kath... _Adam sighed_. Katherine. I love you. That's the short version, the version where I don't whine and cry about you not marrying me, because you're right, we don't need a peice of paper to show everyone how much we love each other. It's written all over my face whenever I look at you. I would do anything for you, Kath. I'd die for you._............._Oh god, that sounded way creepier than I meant it. But, I...I did mean it. I mean...anything you ask, it's yours. I'll make it happen. Just tell me we're still together._

* * *

12 messages and 20 minutes later, Danielle quietly let herself through the test kitchen's door. Bree noticed her right away, her smile faltering just enough for Danielle to notice it.

"Hi, sweetheart!" Bree greeted her. "Come on in, we're listening to Adam profess his undying, all-consuming love for Katherine."

Danielle glanced uncomfortably at Dylan and Julie, who were avoiding her gaze entirely.

"That's okay." Danielle politely declined. "Um...can I borrow the car?"

"May I ask what for?" asked Bree.

"Nevermind." Danielle said softly, leaving and shutting the door behind her.

Katherine and Julie exchanged a brief look, and they both glanced at Dylan, who seemed to be pretending that Danielle hadn't shown up at all.

"I'll be right back." Bree said quickly. She left her seat, and Dylan slipped into the office chair in her place.

Bree poked her head out of the test kitchen and saw Danielle going back into the house. She followed at a distance, going up to Danielle's room and taking a peek inside. Danielle was seated at her desk, which had miraculously been cleaned of the clutter that used to plague it. She seemed to be doing school work, which was a shocker on many levels. Danielle didn't do homework when school was in session, and she was on vacation!

In her head, Bree quickly ran through a bulleted list of points that she wanted to make to Danielle. She remembered every word of the conversation she'd had with Andrew over the phone, and Orson had given her such good advice the past few days. _Tell her you love her...and listen. Love. And listen. _

"Danielle?" Bree called out softly, tapping the door with her knuckle. "Can I come in?"

"Um..." Danielle hastily covered what she was writing on, turning to the door and seeing that Bree was already halfway inside. "Oh." she said wryly. "There you are."

"Danielle..." Bree looked at Danielle, disappointed at the worry and suspicion she found in Danielle's eyes. Was a talk with mom such a thing to be dreaded?

"I just wanted to tell you that I love you." Bree said. "No matter what. I know I nag, and lecture and just plain annoy the hell out of you on a regular basis, but I want you to know that you can tell me anything. You probably don't believe me-"

Danielle snorted. "Understatement of the century." she muttered.

"OR trust me," Bree spoke over her. "But...whatever you choose, for your major at school or for your lifestyle or even a...new hair cut, I will be here to help you when you need it. And if I balk at first - as I often do - just be patient with me. I'm trying."

Bree braced herself for a snide comment.

"Okay." Danielle said quietly, looking down at her desk.

Bree breathed a sigh of relief. There'd been no throwing of books, no slamming of doors, no screaming or yelling..._Where is my daughter, and what have you done with her?_

"So," Bree began again. "If there's anything you want to tell me...about yourself...or your lifestyle..." Bree cleared her throat. "Well, that's all I have to say right now. I didn't mean to interrupt what you were doing, I just wanted you to know. And my car keys are in my purse, as always, if you still need to borrow the car."

Bree was almost past the door when she heard Danielle speak up.

"Wait."

Bree turned.

"I do have something to tell you."

What Danielle longed to say above all else, was that she felt horrible for what she'd done to Dylan. But it was too embarassing. So she took her second biggest secret, one a lot less guarded than her guilt, and finally spilled it formally.

"I'm bisexual."

Bree was completely taken off guard by her announcement. _Bisexuals_...she'd heard they existed, but like unicorns she'd assumed she'd never actually see one in real life.

"Are you sure? I know a lot of girls your age, especially when they are at college, feel a desire to...experiment."

"It's not an experiment." Danielle said flatly. "It's who I am." She'd had this conversation in her mind a million times, and she was prepared for every argument.

"Alright..." Bree said, trying her hardest to understand.

"Actually," said Danielle. "I have a theory that everyone in the world is bisexual, even if they don't act on it. I'm going to write a book about it."

Bree chuckled without realizing it. Instead of praising Danielle's scholarly goals, she only saw the flaw in it.

"What?" Danielle said, instantly testy.

"Not everyone in the world is bisexual, my dear."

"How do you know?"

"Well...look at me! And Orson. We're both quite heterosexual."

"That's what you _think_. That's why I added the 'even if you don't act on it' part to the discussion. Two 'straight' people can be completely content with each other, that's fine. I'm just saying the capacity for same sex partnership could be there too."

Bree was trying very hard not to be condescending and dismissive, but unfortunately for Danielle, Bree was still extremely sensitive on the subject.

"Well I think that's very rudely presumptuous of you." Bree said defensively.

"And I think it's very rudely...whatever of _you _to bash my theory without even reading my book."

It struck Bree that, even when her vocabulary reached its limits, Danielle was actually a very intelligent girl. She had deep thoughts and goals, but she didn't talk about them; maybe out of fear that she would be judged, just as Bree was doing at that exact moment.

"Nice speech, Mom. Glad to know you didn't waste any time before completely forgetting everything you just said."

"I'm sorry," Bree said, taking a few steps back into the room. "Really, I am. See? I don't agree with you, but that's no reason to stop the discussion."

Danielle eyed her suspiciously once more, though she wasn't shut off completely.

"What's that you're writing?" Bree asked, taking a few steps closer to Danielle's desk. Danielle tried to cover up the papers more thoroughly.

"Nothing."

"Is it for your book?"

"Mm...well, no. It's just a paper for my psych class. It's about sexuality too, though. About why people hide it."

"Ah!' said Bree, very familiar with the concept of hiding ones sexuality. "Well that's very, very interesting. Can I read it?"

"No." said Danielle. "You can't."

Bree's happy smile faltered. "Alright." she said, knowing that today's chance at connecting had passed. "Well if you need someone to proofread it," said Bree, never willing to give up so easily. "You know where to find me."

_Goodness..._ Bree thought as she descended to the first floor. _Bisexual..._

Bree knew for sure she wasn't a lesbian, Orson had made that quite clear for her. But she'd forgotten about that pesky halfway point between straight and gay.

"I need to go to the library..." Bree murmured. It was finally time to brave the section on sexuality that she always made sure to avoid.

* * *

_Later that evening..._

"Thank god," Orson said, loosening his tie. "It's Friday."

He's just let himself into Bree's house, his soon-to-be home. He hadn't moved many things from his apartment yet, but he was spending every night there and it felt like home already.

"The next time someone scoffs at my lousy golf score you'll have to remind them where I spend my Friday afternoons - working!"

Orson sighed, wondering why Bree hadn't come out to greet him yet. Not that he expected her to wait on him, it was just that she usually met him at the door with a kiss and a hug. He liked that.

Orson looked at his watch. It was only seven. He made his way up the stairs, wondering if maybe Bree was taking a nap. When he finally peeked into the bedroom, he found Bree sitting in bed, holding a book up to her face, peering through her glasses and looking a bit shell shocked.

"What's all this?" Orson wondered aloud. There was a stack of books piled on Bree's bedside table, and she was deep into the last one. She was so engrossed in the material she didn't notice Orson had even come home.

"Hmm...what?" she said, tearing her eyes away from the book to look at the voice in the doorway. "Oh, hi, Orson."

She looked back to her book and turned the page like it was an advance copy of a lost Harry Potter.

Orson picked up one of the other books.

"_Bi Any Other Name_..." he read aloud. He picked up another. "_Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics_...uh, Bree?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you have something to tell me?"

Bree looked up at Orson, and blinked.

"Oh!" She said, suddenly remembering that she had a fiancee. "Danielle told me she was bisexual today, and I thought I should finally educate myself on the subject. I don't want to mess things up this time, like I did with Andrew."

"Ah. How's it going?"

"Well," said Bree, placing the book on her lap and adjusting her glasses. "Seven books later, I'm still a bit confused. But I really am trying to understand. In fact," she said, opening the book back up. "I'm determined."

"I can see that." Orson said. He sat on the bed next to Bree so he could peek over her shoulder. Then he looked up at Bree and smiled softly.

"You're a good mother." He told her.

Bree smiled, suddenly feeling very bashful.

"Thank you, Orson." she said, glancing at him for a moment. She tried to put her focus back into the book - she only had fifty pages to go - but Orson was kissing her shoulder, and seemed to be ... smelling her.

"What were you cooking today?" Orson asked, inhaling the scent from her shirt.

"Why? Does it smell good?"

"It smells divine." Orson pulled the fabric on Bree's shoulder to the side just enough to expose more of where her neck met her shoulder. "But then again, you always do." he added. He moved his head so he could kiss her neck, inhaling again.

"Orson..." Bree said, placing a bookmark between the pages she could no longer focus on. "Are you trying to distract me?"

"That depends," said Orson, moving his face up so he could kiss her where her neck met her jawline. "Is it working?"

Bree took her glasses off with one hand, placing them on her book. She reached over Orson to put the book and glasses on the tall stack of books beside the bed.

"Yes." she said simply, letting her hands fall to his tie. She loosened it enough to slip it over his head, placing it gingerly on the top of the books. "It is."

* * *

Bree felt Orson's arm draped over her waist, and decided she was in love with being in love. Being able to forsake dinner in favor of laying with the man she was going to marry, that was love to Bree. She still felt like she was glowing, from what they'd just done together, and her body tingled at every place their skin touched. So it was bothersome to her, to say the least, that she got a funny feeling every time she looked at that stack of books. She kept thinking about the way Danielle had put it - that two straight people could be content, that was fine. Didn't that somehow imply that they'd be...missing something if they settled for each other?

The furrow in Bree's brow deepened as she pulled Orson's arm tighter around her. Utter nonsense, she tried to tell herself. Her mind kept trying to travel back to the kisses she shared with Katherine, but she wouldn't let it, thinking of Orson instead.

"I love you." Bree said out loud. Orson didn't answer right away, so she shook his arm gently. "I love you." she said again.

"I love you too." Orson murmured, halfway to dreamland.

Bree smiled and closed her eyes, shutting out the stack of books so she could enjoy a mid-evening nap.


	24. Chapter 24

Katherine let herself into Bree's house, and walked to the kitchen, rounding the stairs at a brisk pace. She all but screeched to a halt in the doorway when she saw Orson and Bree sitting at the kitchen table. They were kissing, softly and slowly. Orson had his hand at Bree's jawline, caressing her cheek with his thumb, his other arm was draped over the back of Bree's chair as he leaned into her lips. Bree's hands were still holding the photo album that sat on the table, as if Orson had surprised her with the kiss. She still had her glasses on. Katherine smiled and indulged herself by watching them for a moment, wondering if she and Adam made anywhere near as romantic a sight as these two. Bree and Orson's lips parted, and Katherine watched Bree's eyes open to gaze at Orson. She leaned in to kiss him again, and that's when she noticed Katherine.

"Oh!" she said. She pulled away, blushing and smiling, embarassed only as a reflex. "Hello, Katherine." she sang sarcastically. Orson turned and looked over his shoulder, smiling proudly.

"Don't let me interrupt!" said Katherine suggestively, easing her way toward the table. She set down the canvas bags full of groceries she'd been holding next to an empty chair. "I was enjoying the view."

Bree took off her glasses, giving Katherine a look.

"You two are worse than teenagers." Katherine teased them as she sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"We were practicing." said Orson. "For the wedding."

"You don't need a reason to make out." Katherine assured him. "It's perfectly natural. Though, coincidentally, this is the second time this has happened to me today."

"Oh really?" said Bree. "Anyone...surprising?" She wanted some juicy gossip to distract from getting caught herself.

"Oh, just my daughter and her new girlfriend." Katherine said breezily.

"Dylan and Julie?! Are they an item now?"

"I...guess?" Katherine said, raising her eyebrows and grimacing. "I don't know! Dylan hasn't said anything to me about it, and it's so new and awkward, I don't want to pry. I mean, is Julie gay? Experimenting? Is this going to last beyond spring break or is it just a fling?"

"All very pertinent questions, Katherine." said Bree, with empathy. "You should see the stack of books I checked out of the library on account of Danielle."

"This might sound bad," said Katherine. "But it really seems like a fever going around, doesn't it?"

"You two started it." Orson interjected. He and Katherine chuckled quietly at his joke, but Bree full out laughed, causing her fiancee and her friend to exchange looks before looking back at her.

"What?" said Bree, looking back at them.

"You...twittered nervously, Bree." Katherine explained.

"No I didn't."

"There was definitely some exaggeration there." Orson confirmed.

"I'm sorry," said Bree, bristling and trying to hide it. "I didn't realize my laughter was going to be analyzed. Next time I'll twitter neutrally."

"Don't get defensive," Katherine chided her. She glanced down at the photo album in front of Bree. "What were you looking at?"

Bree showed Katherine the book; it was full of pictures of flower arrangements.

Katherine smiled. It brought back memories that only now, with hindsight, could she look upon as fond ones.

"Do you remember the last time we looked at that book together?" she asked Bree. Bree smiled big, and they both looked at her fiancee.

"I do." said Bree.

Orson looked at each of them. "Am I supposed to remember too?" he said, worried because he sure didn't. Bree and Katherine grinned.

"No," said Bree. "You're not. The last time we looked at this book was right before Mrs. Kipling's fundraiser."

"Ahhh, yes." Orson said, smirking as he finally understood the significance.

"We were still fighting over you," said Katherine. "With poor Mrs. Kipling in the middle. She had absolutely no idea what was going on between us."

"Oh, the poor dear!" Bree said with a laugh. She turned to look at Orson again, and Katherine smirked happily as they shared another loving gaze.

"Well, it certainly worked out for all of us in the end." said Katherine. Bree and Orson were too busy kissing again to respond. Katherine sighed dramatically, standing and moving her groceries to the kitchen. "Don't mind me, I just work here."

"Oh, Katherine." said Bree, turning from Orson so she could ask her something. "I know cooking dinner tonight was supposed to be a nice double date sort of thing for the two happy couples, but...do you mind if I invite Danielle?"

"No, not at all. It might do her some good to be around mature adults for a change."

"My thoughts exactly."

Katherine began to take the groceries out of her canvas bags, setting them out on the counter so she could get to work.

* * *

Adam and Orson were sitting in the living room sharing horror stories from work when Bree poked her head in from the kitchen.

"Dinner's ready." she said warmly, with a smile to match. It was supposed to have just been Katherine cooking the meal, but Bree had hovered and stared long enough that Katherine finally invited her to help.

"I should have known I couldn't keep you out of your own kitchen." she'd said, smirking. Now she even allowed the boys to help, handing them plates and bowls to carry to the dining room table.

Bree took a deep breath and walked to the stairs.

"Danielle!" she called up, trying to keep her tone light. "Dinner's ready!"

"Coming!" Danielle called back, too distracted to give her mother attitude. She folded up a piece of paper and stuffed it into her jeans pocket before leaving her room.

Bree smiled when Danielle appeared at the top of the stairs. She was wearing a new pair of jeans and a shimmering silver top, both items that she'd stolen from the mall.

"You look lovely, Danielle." said Bree, with no idea that the clothes she wore had not been paid for. Danielle allowed herself a moment of smug satisfaction, though she felt more guilt than usual. She didn't say thank you or return the compliment, but she didn't make a snide remark either. Bree considered that progress. Danielle followed her mother into the dining room, and they both took their seats.

"Bon apetit." said Katherine to the party.

"It looks delicious." said Adam.

"I'd say you've outdone yourselves," said Orson. "But everything you two cook comes out perfectly."

"Oh, stop." said Bree, though her smile said go on forever.

Danielle remained silent, looking at each of the other adults. They were all happy, smiling, and they weren't looking at her. She wondered if they were avoiding her gaze. It was not an unreasonable assumption, considering what happened the last time Danielle had come to dinner, and she was about to do it again...

"I'd like to read something." Danielle said sharply, her nerves causing a harsher tone than she'd intended. The edge in her voice cut through the sounds of utensils on plates. Bree froze, as did all of her friends, all of them wondering what Danielle could possibly have in store for them tonight. "If you don't mind, that is." Danielle added.

Bree seemed to recover somewhat, glancing at Katherine before she cleared her throat.

"Of course, sweetheart. Is it your psychology essay?" she asked.

"No, it's a poem." said Danielle. Her chair scraped the floor as she pushed it back, and she stood. She pulled the paper from her back pocket, unfolding it carefully. "It's called...well, you'll probably be able to guess after you hear it."

Everyone put down their untensils, turning their gazes toward Danielle. She looked at the paper in her hands, as if preparing herself. All eyes were on her. She told herself it didn't matter, that she was alone, just like she always was inside. And then she began to read slowly, letting every word and idea sink in before moving on to the next.

"_I am not who you want me to be._

_But take comfort, because_

_I am not who I want to be either.  
_

_I am not loved for the things that I do,_

_Only judged, and pitied _

_for all the things I do not.  
_

_Stop trying to love me._

_I am not who you want me to be,_

_and you are trying to love someone else._"

Danielle paused. This is where it got personal. She kept looking at the paper, even thought it was only a prop. She had every letter memorized.

"_Condemn me, _

_for falling in love with my childhood friend, _

_as her childhood friend stole her from me.  
_

_Condemn me, _

_for struggling to escape my past, _

_even though it is my past that made me who I am meant to be.  
_

_Condemn me, _

_for losing my father, _

_before I realized how much I would miss him.  
_

_Condemn me, _

_for being left with a broken family,_

_that seems not to miss me when I'm gone.  
_

_Condemn me, _

_for I am becoming my mother, _

_even as she is loathe to admit that she is becoming just like me.  
_

_Condemn me, _

_for trying be unlike any other, _

_because I know exactly who I am and exactly who I want to be.  
_

_And forgive me. _

_Because simply knowing isn't good enough._"

Silence. Danielle stood, motionless, holding the paper in front of her and staring at the blank space that came after her handwriting. She finally got the courage to look up at her mother, who'd been left utterly speechless by her daughter's words.

As usual, Danielle hadn't really thought beyond the moment. She wasn't even sure what effect she wanted to have on Bree, or on the dinner party as a whole, when she'd decided to write down the verses and bring the paper to the table. She found the desire to mortify Bree strangely absent from her intention. She just wanted to make a connection, and she knew she couldn't do it with a normal conversation. It just didn't seem to work that way with Bree Van de Kamp.

Bree stared at Danielle, her mouth hanging slightly open. Orson, Katherine and Adam all shared subtle looks when they weren't staring down at their plates. When it became clear that no one was going to acknowledge the intensely personal revelations of Danielle's poem, Danielle folded the paper, put it back in her pocket, and sat back down. She picked up her fork, and began eating again. Katherine was the first to follow her, and Adam dutifully followed Katherine. Orson looked at Bree, who was still staring at her daughter, at a familiar loss for words.


End file.
